


A World Full of Color

by hidingoutbackstage



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Falling In Love, Fluff, Growing Up Together, M/M, Please read the notes!, Slow Burn, Sonic-teens AU, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:22:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26548936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hidingoutbackstage/pseuds/hidingoutbackstage
Summary: AU where you’re born only seeing one color, and as you get closer to your soulmate, you gain more. Once you meet them you gain the same color, and as you fall in love with them, you gain the whole rainbow.
Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog
Comments: 16
Kudos: 102





	A World Full of Color

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy y'all! I wrote this fic a little while ago, and since my friends liked it so much I figured I'd post it here as well.
> 
> A few disclaimers, I'll start out with the biggest one. This is meant to be a soulmate au of tumblr user @cherriberrieri's sonic au on tumblr, @sonic-teens. In this au, all of the characters are human and in high school. This fic is based off the blog, which is her interpretations of the characters. If you don't follow the blog I strongly recommend you check it out because the art is phenomenal and the posts are very funny.
> 
> Another disclaimer, nothing in this fic is meant to reflect any canon events or ships in the sonic-teens universe. I wrote them in accordance of Cherri's interpretation of the characters as put on the blog, as well as non-canon input from the creator herself, but I do not run the sonic-teens blog nor do I have any input on the universe.
> 
> Final disclaimer, while there was some art for this fic, I cannot include it in the fic without a source, and some of the creators did not want to/could not post their art for me to include, so I just did not put any of their artwork in these. But if you were one of the people who made art for it know that I do appreciate it immensely and it is still in the google doc that I have shared with some of you
> 
> Lastly, for everyone, I hope you enjoy this fic that took two months and a lot of effort to write. Thanks for reading this long ass note

The best color in the world was blue, Shadow was sure of that. It was his favorite color, it was his only color. He’d been born seeing the color blue, and he considered himself lucky. It showed up often. From the sky to people’s eyes, blue was a calm, welcoming presence in an otherwise monochromatic world.

The first color you’re born with is supposed to be the most useful, a clue to point you in the direction of your soulmate. Shadow considered it a blessing and a curse, because it gave him such a wide range as to the possibilities. Often it led a lot of people to careers that would lead them to their soulmates, or certain places or people. His dad had mostly been monochromatic for as long as he could remember. When Gerald joined the mix, he’d mostly been shades of black, white, and gray too. The only person in his life that was blue was Maria, and so it was her he followed.

Her favorite dress was the color of the sky. Her eyes were a bright blue. The walls of her hospital room. The BlueCross BlueShield she relied on. All blue. He made up his mind early in life that the blue meant he’d be a doctor.

Blue was the color of Maria, and so he chose to follow wherever it led him.

* * *

To Sonic, it felt like being born with red was a bit unfortunate. On the one hand, it was fun sharing a color with his sister, Sonia, since that wasn’t a common thing for siblings to do, and there were a lot of pretty red things in the world. On the other hand was literally everything else. Red didn’t show up often, and when it did, it was often so jarring and garish against the black and white world. It was the color of conflict to him. It was the color of second place ribbons, which he felt conflicted on, jealous of the color but not jealous of what it represented. It was the color of the scrapes he got when he played too rough outside, which meant he’d had fun, but the pain sometimes didn’t feel worth it. It was the color of love, and the color of hate.

But how bad could red truly be? It was the color that would one day lead him to the love of his life, the person who was meant to be his missing piece forever. It was thrilling. It was magical.

It was confusing.

Sonic had decided to latch on to the color red in his favorite context: competition. Red ribbons he saw all too often when it came to other sports, like lacrosse, soccer, that brief period he tried gymnastics, but when it was running races he only got first place, even when going up against the boys.

So. Running it was then. Running from the red towards his soulmate.

Red was the color of second place. Of second best. Of almost.

* * *

The day Shadow learns his sister is destined to be alone is the day he decides he hates soulmates.

He thought her color was the same as his, blue. She loved wearing blue outfits, loved the ocean, loved the sky on a clear day. But when he’s eight and she’s fourteen she finally admits to him that she can’t see any color at all. The blue she wore were just clothes she liked, she yearned to go to the ocean, though it wasn’t likely to happen anytime soon, and she just thought the sky looked pretty when it wasn’t obstructed by clouds. He’s visiting her in the hospital one day, showing her the bracelet he’d made for her with new cyan beads he’d just gotten when she tells him.

“I can’t see them. They look the same as the other bracelets you’ve given me. I’m sure they’re very pretty, though.”

Of course it wasn’t as blunt as that, she’d told him to sit down and had eased him into the truth, but those three sentences bounced around in his skull. Along with-

“I can’t see color. At all. I must not have anyone.”

And it’s at that moment that Shadow decides soulmates are pointless. What’s the use of them if not everyone gets them? If Maria, one of the happiest, bravest, best people he knew didn’t get a soulmate, who was Shadow to deserve one?

“Hey, I know that look,” she said, softly taking his hands. “It’s okay, baby bro. Some things just aren’t meant for everyone. That doesn’t mean they aren’t meant for you.” She really could read him like an open book. Shadow looked up into glassy blue eyes as he held back tears, because it wasn’t _fair_ , it wasn’t fair that Maria didn’t get the chance to find someone she was meant for and fall for them. Obviously, plenty of people without soulmates still found love, but Maria had a disadvantage from the start. And not being able to see colors? None at all? Blue was one of the most beautiful things to Shadow, but now it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Blue stopped being the color of hope, and became the color of sadness. A reminder of something that his sister, who he cared about more than anything, would never get. He made up his mind to despise his soulmate, whoever it is, for cursing him solely by existing, for burdening him with someone he would be forced unto forever. He’ll hate them when the day comes.

For now he held his sister’s hand, closing his eyes as tears rolled down his face, squeezing them shut so he didn’t have to see the pain of blue.

* * *

It was always kickball with Sonic. It had to be. It was an easy ball to keep track of for him, and it allowed him to run around as fast as he could. It was the best sport ever invented, in his opinion.

It also allowed him to protect his new friend.

Miles had skipped a couple grades when he transferred to Green Hill Elementary, so it didn’t take long until he fell victim to bullying. But Sonic wasn’t about to let a fellow student get bullied for being different. He knew all too well what that was like.

The first time Sonic had been a team captain for kickball, he’d picked the people he thought would be best for his team. So did the other captain, leaving Miles as the last person selected. During the game, the boy’s own teammates picked on him and pushed him around. Sonic immediately decided that wouldn’t stand, and from then on, every single time they played, Sonic’s first pick was always Miles, uncaring of who’d complain.

The moment he selected Miles for his team, he saw the grass on the kickball field change, and he tried to remain calm.

That decision gave him the color green.

Big decisions people made that would lead them to their soulmates sometimes gave them a color to let them know they were going in the right direction. And when he picked Miles from the line of students, reached out in an act of friendship, the world lit up with the color of green, the grass, the trees, even some of his fellow players’ eyes.

Despite the groans and complaints of people hoping to get on his team, he knew that he’d made the right decision as Miles ran over to him and gave him a high five.

* * *

Being homeschooled was capital B Boring! Shadow had an appetite for mischief that he couldn’t satisfy with hobbies he tried picking up around the house. He was ten goddamn years old, he needed some action!

Which is why he’d decided to spend his free time terrorizing the local elementary school.

Did it stem from a desire to be around other kids his age, and that the isolation he lived in made him lonely? Perhaps. Not that he’d ever admit that to himself.

The time of day he snuck out most often was around fifth grade recess time. He’d sneak out and run onto the school grounds, cause some mischief, and dash off before anyone noticed he wasn’t a student there. So far, it worked every time. Occasionally someone would shout after him a name he didn’t recognize, which was an even greater reward, the idea that he wouldn’t get caught, even if it meant the blame was put on someone else.

One day, he wasn’t so lucky, as he spotted a little boy sitting on a bench by himself, fiddling with a model airplane. Great. A person alone is easier to fuck with and run away without negative consequences.

Just as he was approaching the young kid, he heard the sound of feet running towards him. He looked up at the last second to see a kid barrelling towards him, with no intention to slow down. Shadow panicked for only a second before he hit the ground jumping out of the stranger’s way.

“What the hell?!” He leapt back up as quickly as he could, coming eye to eye with the crazy kid. “You could have knocked me over!”

“You’re that kid that keeps messing with people even though you don’t go here, aren’t you?” To the point, this kid was. Shadow just crossed his arms and gave a signature glare.

“What’s it to you?”

“I’ve had enough of you going around, being rude to people, and then letting me take the blame, Faker!” So, this was the person Shadow kept getting mistaken for? It did seem possible, their hair, outfits, and faces did look rather similar, even more so considering the only color he could make out on this kid was the blue hoodie he was wearing. Just the sight of it made Shadow want to sneer. “And I’m not gonna let it happen to my friend!” he continued. Behind his protector, the boy looked at Shadow nervously, clutching his toy plane to his chest.

Shadow’s eyes rolled. “Relax, I wasn’t going to hurt him. I just wanted to fuck with him a little bit. For fun.”

The kid gasped. “Language!”

His patience was wearing thin, though it was fun to poke the bear a little. “Wow, we’ve got a real goody two shoes on our hands, don’t we? No wonder you hate getting in trouble with your teachers.”

“Cut it out!”

“What are you gonna do to make me? I’m sure you’re not packing a ton of muscle under that lame sweatshirt-” Not even a second later, Shadow found himself knocked to the ground, a pair of hands grabbing his wrists and feet kicking him. Shadow snarled and fought back, trying to push the crazed kid off him.

After a little bit of scuffling, he finally succeeded in shoving the stranger off him, rolling away and sitting up and glaring daggers at his sudden rival, both of them breathing heavily. Out of the corner of his eye, he realized the child with the plane was gone, but he wasn’t too focused on that. Something had changed about the kid he’d gotten into a scuffle with. Something was different about him.

His hair was brighter.

The boy was looking back at him with curious eyes, also seeming to look at Shadow’s hair. A frightening thought overcame Shadow. He grabbed a strand of hair and held it in front of his face so he could see it properly.

He’d been told by friends and family that his hair was blond, but now he could actually _see_ it. His head snapped up as he saw the stranger, suddenly in a new way, looking at his own hair.

“Are you blond?” he asked, terrified of the boy’s response.

“Yeah,” he replied softly, slowly looking back up at Shadow. “I couldn’t see it before, but…I can now.” They hold each other’s gaze for a moment before whispering something in unison.

“It’s you.”

Not wanting to deal with any more of this shit, Shadow scrambled to his feet and ran off. Off the property, back home, up the stairs, into his room, his feet finally only stopped once he fell on his bed. He smothered his face with a pillow as he tried to block out everything, to forget what he just saw, to erase what had happened.

An urge to double check nagged at him. To be sure. He cautiously raised his head from his pillow and looked up. The fairy lights he had strung on his wall had a new color. The couch in his room against his bed had a new color. He looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was a sandy blond.

He could see yellow.

Shadow groaned and fell face first back onto the bed.

* * *

“Sorry for running off like that.” Thank Chaos for lunch after recess. It gave Sonic time to cool down after an always eventful break, and today, it gave him the chance to make up with his friend and discuss a recent development.

“S’okay. You made the right call.” Sonic took a bite of his pb&j sandwich, chewing thoughtfully. “By the way, I have good news and bad news.”

Miles perked up, and Sonic couldn’t help the grin that overcame his face. After gaining the ability to see what he was pretty sure was yellow, his friend looked even more adorable with his shiny blond hair and the yellow shirt he was wearing. Yellow was the color of happiness, of innocence.

So why was it also the color of Faker?

“What’s the news?” The boy encouraged him to go on.

“Well, the good news is, Faker gave me a couple of bruises during our fight. Bad news is, after you left, I officially met my soulmate.”

Miles’ eyes widened. “No way! When? How? Who?” His voice hushed as his gaze darted around the cafeteria, as if someone were listening. Luckily, it was just the two of them at their table. “Wait, shouldn’t the good and bad news be the other way around?”

Sonic shook his head. “It’s good that he left some bruises on me, cuz I definitely hurt him back. And it’s bad that I met my soulmate because…” He lowered his voice and leaned closer. “…because my soulmate _is_ Faker.”

The blond boy dropped the fry he was holding.

“Holy shit,” he whispered.

“Hey, you’re seven, you can’t say that! It’s like, illegal.”

“Your soulmate is _him?_ Why?” Miles actually looked a little worried.

Sonic rolled his eyes. “You’re saying that like I know! It’s probably a fluke or something.”

His friend raised an eyebrow. “A fluke in the universe?”

He threw his hands up in exasperation. “What other explanation is there? That _I’m_ destined to be with _Faker?”_

Miles scratched his ear absentmindedly, something Sonic had picked up as a quirk the boy did when he was pondering something. He could see the gears turning in the boy’s head. After a minute, he finally spoke. “Well…not necessarily.”

Sonic’s interest was piqued. “Come again?”

“Maybe…Faker isn’t meant to be your significant other.”

“What do you mean?”

He scratched his ear again, piecing together the exact words he wanted to say. “People have suspected, have theorized, that a soulmate doesn’t _have_ to be somebody meant to be your significant other, a romantic partner in life.”

That didn’t make any sense. “Well, what else would they be?”

“Like, it’s just someone who you perfectly mesh with, your souls are perfectly compatible. That doesn’t always mean romantic.” Sonic must have still had a confused look on his face, so the boy continued. “That could mean someone you’re meant to be with platonically, or even someone whose soul fits with yours in a negative way, someone you’re meant to be _against_ forever.”

Sonic perked up at that. “Like a bad guy?”

“Like a rival.” Sonic’s mind was already flooding with new ideas. The circumstances they had met certainly didn’t seem destined to be romantic, and Miles was one of the smartest people he knew, so of course he wouldn’t posit this theory without anything to back it up.

Rivals. Yeah. Sonic could do that.

“By the way…” Miles’ voice brought him out of his daydream. “I noticed you’re still calling him ‘Faker.’ Has he told you his name?”

Sonic huffed. “No. But I’m sure it’s something just as stupid.”

“Are you gonna tell him _your_ name?”

The question made him stiffen up. Oh yeah. That. Sonic bowed his head and swirled his straw in his chocolate milk carton. “I don’t have a name right now, Miles,” he said quietly.

“Oh, right. Sorry.” He turned away and shoved a couple of fries into his mouth.

“S’okay. I’ll let you know when I have one figured out.” A faint smile appeared on his face. “Maybe you can help me think of one.” The tenseness Miles was showing relaxed, and he returned Sonic’s soft smile.

Despite having to come in contact with one of the most annoying and rude people Sonic had ever met in order to gain it, he was grateful for the color yellow. It was the color of Faker, true, but to Sonic, it would always be the color of Miles.

Who needed soulmates anyway when you had friends?

* * *

Seeing Maria the next week was hard. Shadow hadn’t told anyone about his soulmate just yet, he really didn’t want to tell anyone about it, especially Maria, but there was something about the kind and understanding vibes she gave off that made Shadow nearly break down and admit everything.

Nearly.

“Hey Mr. Grumpypants.” Shadow scowled at her under his mask. She just crossed her arms and smiled at him. “How’s my favorite little guy?”

“I’m gonna be as tall as you one day, mark my words.”

“I’m so sure.” Maria rolled her eyes and tucked some curly hair behind her ear and there was a sudden pain in Shadow’s chest because she was _blonde_. His sister was blonde, just like him, only hers was brighter, and as much as Shadow wanted so desperately to hate yellow, he can’t because yellow is Maria. Just like blue.

How could he hate two things that he saw every time he looked at the most important person in his life?

“Shadow? Is everything okay?”

He can’t tell her that he’s met his soulmate. He can’t. He knows his sister will say that she’s happy for him, and encourage him to tell her more, and then he’ll have to admit that he fought the boy and ran away because he wanted nothing to do with him. Then she’ll want to know why and he’ll have to admit “because of you.” and the last thing he wants to do is make her feel guilty because she’s, from her perspective, “keeping him from being happy.”

He doesn’t need that kind of happiness. He has her. That’s all he needs.

“Your hair looks nice today, Maria.”

She cocks an eyebrow, but doesn’t voice any suspicions. “Aw, thank you, storm cloud.”

“Like, it looks really good.” _Don’t say it. Don’t._

“Thanks? I didn’t do anything special with it, but I’m glad you appreciate-”

“It’s a nice color,” he blurted out.

Fuck.

Maria’s eyebrows raised slightly, her mouth slightly open in confusion, before her face smoothed out in an understanding smile.

“You can see the color?”

Shadow nodded, feeling a lump in his throat and tears prick at his eyes. Damnit. He hated crying when he saw Maria, he always wanted to be strong for her, and if anyone should be crying, it should be her! But Shadow had rarely seen his sister with tears in her eyes, and she was always the one to comfort him when he felt down. It was not at all fair.

_Not fair,_ his brain told him. _Not fair, not fair, not fair._

“What’s wrong, baby bro? If you can see another color that’s a good thing, it means your closer to meeting-”

“I already met him.” _Shut up. Stop interrupting her,_ his brain scolded him.

The sympathetic smile never left her face. “Well that’s wonderful! Who is he, what’s he like?”

“I hate him.” The words came out before Shadow could stop them. He knew that wasn't what Maria would want to hear, regardless of the truth it held.

The sympathetic smile faltered, and her blue eyes turned sad. “Why’s that?”

“Because.” He took a second to figure out what he wanted to say, and how to say it. “Because when I met him, he yelled at me and tried to fight me. Maybe I deserved it. Long story.” She didn’t say anything, so Shadow took that as his cue to continue. “And mostly, it’s because I don’t want to fall in love. I’d rather be alone and have you.”

Maria sighed. “Shads…” He expected a reprimanding, or a soft explanation from her about why he’s an idiot, but it didn’t come. Instead she just held out her arms, inviting an embrace. “Get up here.”

He paused, double checking his gloves and mask, and his sister couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Come here, you germy boy. I want a hug.” Shadow gave in, joining his sister on the bed, her arms wrapping around him protectively as his head rested right underneath her chin.

“You’ve got to stop letting your own ego get in the way of your happiness.” Shadow didn’t respond, he just stared at the baby blue wall. “Shadow.” He tilted his head to look up at her. Her face was soft but her voice stern. “You deserve to be happy. You deserve love. And I’m tired of you thinking that you don’t.”

That did it, there were tears coming out of his eyes now. He buried his face in Maria’s gown to try and hide them. He hated feeling weak around his sister who was actually sick. He was supposed to be strong enough for both of them, but he couldn’t even be strong enough for himself.

“What about you?” he mumbled, still hiding his face from the world.

“Oh, baby bro, don’t worry about me.” She planted a kiss on the top of his head and ruffled his hair. Shadow couldn’t lie, it did make him feel a little more at ease. He looked back up into his sister’s kind blue eyes. “If you keep worrying about me, you’ll be worried for the rest of our lives, and you won’t have any left for yourself.” A quiet, relieved laugh came from the both of them as Maria just squeezed her brother tighter. “You have a soulmate. You’ve met him. And you’ve gained another color. So enjoy it.” She ruffled his hair again, though more forcefully, and bonked the top of his head when she was done. “That’s an order, mister.” Shadow laughed, a little louder this time, wiping the tears from his eyes.

“I love you, Maria.” He meant it. He hoped his voice would show just how much he loved his sister and how much she meant to him.

She hummed, stroking her brother’s hair and holding on to him tightly. He didn’t have to tell her, to show her anything. She knew. It was her duty to know.

“I love you too, Shadow.”

* * *

Sonic had only told Miles about his soulmate, other than that, he refused to let anyone else know. Not his other friends, not even his family.

Sixth grade was when he finally slipped up.

He couldn’t help it. The instinct to make fun of his brother was too strong. Manic had come into the living room wearing a green shirt that had mustard colored polka dots on it. It was hideous, so Sonic told him so.

“What’s wrong with it?” The boy looked down and smoothed out his collar. “I like the green, and the polka dots are a nice pattern.”

“The colors just clash horribly,” Sonic stated matter of factly. “They look like your greasy hair when you haven’t washed it for days.”

Manic scowled. “That’s cold. I can’t even see it anyway.”

Sonia, who was minding her own business on the couch, perked up. She shot Sonic a questioning look. “Wait, bro, you can see Manny’s hair color?”

Sonic’s eyes widened. “N-no,” he lied.

His sister slammed her hands down on the coffee table. “You’ve met your soulmate?!” she exclaimed.

“No! He must have done something that brought him closer to-”

_“He?”_ Sonic wanted to kick himself.

“Okay, fine,” he sighed. “I met him a year ago at recess.”

“A _YEAR?”_ Sonic pretended to ignore the dirty look Manic was giving him.

“I bumped into him during recess. He was that kid that teachers always thought was me when he did bad things. I don’t think he even went there! Anyway, I bumped into him, and I could see the color yellow.” He shrugged and sat down on the couch as he finished his explanation, propping his feet up on the coffee table. “I don’t know what else you want me to say.”

“How about, oh I don’t know, why you didn’t tell us before?”

“What’s this guy like?”

“What’s his name?”

“Anything?!” His brother and sister glared daggers into him.

Sonic held up his hands defensively. “Woah, chill, I didn’t know you guys would care so much.”

Sonia huffed and rolled her eyes. “You’re the first one of us to meet your soulmate, plus you’re our brother, of course we care about you.”

Sonic couldn’t help but smile at that. As often as he and his siblings were at each other’s throats, it was nice to hear that they did care about him. And it was nice to hear them call him their brother.

He just…didn’t want to disappoint them.

“It’s kind of a long story. And it’s really dumb.”

“We’ve got time. Plus we already know you’re dumb, what’s one more story? Ow!” Manic scowled at his sister, rubbing the back of his head. Sonic chuckled at the two of them, and decided to give them the abridged version of meeting his soulmate, including Miles’ speculation.

“That is ridiculous,” Sonia declared once Sonic had finished. “The idea that your soulmate isn’t romantic is just something people who don’t like their soulmate tell themselves to feel better. I’ve never seen anyone have a soulmate that was supposed to be a rival.”

Sonic frowned. “It could be true!”

“No way, man.” Manic shook his head and crossed his arms. “Romantic? Happens every damn day. Platonic? Sure, it could happen. Antagonistic? Unheard of.”

“Surprised you were able to use a five syllable word like that, Manny,” Sonic said with an eyebrow raise.

“Surprised you can count to five,” he shot back. “And you’re not out of the woods yet. I still can’t believe you _fought_ your soulmate.”

_“I_ can’t believe you let him _run away!”_ Sonia clutched her heart dramatically. “You had your soulmate in front of you, and you didn’t even follow to see where he went, you didn’t want to know his name, and you didn’t make an effort to seek him out? Do you even want your unlikely romance to succeed?” Her brothers just stared at her.

“Mom, Sonia’s being a hopeless romantic again!” Sonic shouted, even though their mother wasn’t home. Manic held his sides, laughing, while their sister just scowled.

“Oh, hush, let me be dramatic,” she pouted.

“Cranky because our brother met his soulmate and you still haven’t yet, huh?” Manic asked with a knowing look.

That made Sonia light up. “Actually, while you’re right, something did happen the other day!” She straightened herself up and began telling her story with wide eyes. “I was sitting in my room, doing work, when I suddenly saw the color of my favorite pencil! I got the ability to see violet!”

Her brothers smiled brightly at her. “That’s great, sis! Do you think you did something to trigger it, somehow getting closer to them?”

She shook her head triumphantly. “Nope! I’d been in my room alone for hours doing work. Which can only mean one thing.” She paused dramatically, even though both boys knew what it meant. “They’ve fallen a little more in love with me.”

“How, if you haven’t even met them yet?” Sonia glared at Manic, and he backpedaled. “It just seems unlikely is all.”

“Well, maybe they heard about me and how awesome I am. It’s happened to plenty of people. Doesn’t matter, anyway. I have violet now, along with red. The world looks really cool, now.” She had a dreamy look in her eyes. Sonic was happy for her, she’d fallen in love with the idea of soulmates since she first learned that she had one, and it was nice to see she’d likely get one closer than she expected.

A thought crossed Sonic’s mind. “When exactly did this happen?”

Sonia pondered for a second. “Tuesday, around 8 pm. Why?”

Sonic opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by his brother’s snort. “Of course you have the time memorized.”

“Oh, buzz off, Manny,” she retorted, tossing one of the couch’s throw pillows at him. Sonic laughed along with his siblings, his mind replaying the conversation he’d had with Knuckles on Tuesday, about their families, around 8pm.

* * *

Shadow absolutely did not want to give his soulmate a chance.

It didn’t matter what Maria said. He loved her, he’d do anything for her, but all she really told him to do was enjoy having a soulmate, enjoy the colors he had. That didn’t mean he had to fall in love with his soulmate. Hell, he’d be lucky if they never interacted again.

Besides, who needed soulmates? He’d finally found a confidante he could cause chaos with. Rouge had been exactly the kind of associate he needed in his life, especially once he started eighth grade. It was his last year being homeschooled by Gerald, next year he’d be attending Emerald High, and his fathers insisted he try to branch out more so he wasn’t such a lone wolf.

Enter Rouge.

He wasn’t exactly sure what they’d done to become such close co-conspirators, but their relationship was one built from trust, loyalty, and a love of mischief. The amount of times she snuck into his house just to hang out, the way it almost felt like he was actually attending middle school with all the gossip she fed him about everybody, him going to her house to help tutor her, the two of them hanging out at the local playground (which they were getting too old for, but come on, who was going to stop them?), all of it brought them closer together than Shadow had felt to another person that wasn’t in his family.

Shadow didn’t believe in platonic soulmates, and besides, he’d already met his, but he did believe in what he’d developed with Rouge.

“Friends, Shadow. Chaos, just use the word.” They’d chosen to go to the park again, and thankfully there weren’t any other children there. That left them to their own devices, aka sitting on parts of structures not meant for sitting, climbing things that shouldn’t be climbed. Currently, Rouge sat on the bottom of the double slide, her purple converse kicking the mulch on the ground as she sucked on a mango flavored popsicle. Shadow sat beside here, licking a cherry popsicle as he talked to Rouge about how much he appreciated having her as an “ally.”

“We’re friends? Really?” he asked excitedly. He hadn’t wanted to get his hopes up in case Rouge didn’t think as much of their relationship as Shadow did.

“Yes, of course we are,” she said with a sigh. “Honestly, Shads, you overthink things too much.”

“Sorry,” he muttered, sticking what remained of his popsicle in his mouth to keep him from saying anything else dumb.

“It’s all right, hun, really. I’m flattered our friendship means so much to you that you wanted to check.” Rouge pointed at Shadow with what remained of her popsicle on the wooden stick. “You’re a good friend. Probably the best I’ve had.”

Shadow raised an eyebrow at her. “You mean the only you’ve had?

The girl shrugged. “Tomato, potato.”

“I will never understand why you say that,” he commented, biting off a piece of popsicle from the stick, silently relishing in Rouge’s shudder that followed.

“I will never understand how you _bite_ into popsicles.”

“I'm a strong-willed individual.”

“You’re a monster.” Shadow just chomped off the last bit of popsicle and tapped the stained wooden stick against Rouge’s nose. She scrunched it up like she was disgusted, but a second later the two fell into fits of chuckles. Shadow adored soft moments like these. Usually they were rare and often short-lived, often cut off too soon by some unforeseen person or event. But for now, things were all right.

“No way!”

Spoke too soon.

Shadow and Rouge turned to look at the two people now present in their territory. One was a short boy who looked vaguely familiar with bright blonde hair pulled into pigtails wearing overalls and a soft yellow t-shirt. The other was someone Shadow immediately recognized all too well. That stupid blonde hair, the first yellow he’d ever seen, and still wearing that hoodie, though he seemed to have more grown into it by now. He was staring at Shadow rather confused, before breaking out into a small smile that rubbed Shadow the wrong way. What did he have to smile at Shadow like-

Oh chaos they were walking towards him.

“Do you know those two?” Rouge asked.

“I wish I didn’t,” Shadow muttered through gritted teeth.

“Do you want to leave?”

Yes. He did. He wanted nothing to do with the boy who was the reason for color in his life. He knew they’d probably end up yelling at each other or fighting, even though it had been years. Shadow knew, he just knew nothing good could come of seeing his soulmate here.

“No. I’ll be alright.”

And yet he stayed.

“Hello!” the short blonde one said as they approached, waving even though Shadow and Rouge were about six feet in front of him.

“Hi,” Rouge said brightly. She gave Shadow a pointedly confused look, and he knew what she was asking. _What grudge do you have against this kid?_

He shot her a look that he hoped read, _It’s not_ this _one I have a grudge against._

“Small world, huh, faker?” Shadow’s soulmate asked. The edgy teen scowled, gripping the popsicle stick tightly.

“Faker? I think you’re the fake one, since we got here first,” he said smoothly, trying not to let his emotions overtake him. Usually he was as calm as the surface of a pool in the fall, yet something about seeing this kid dialed up his feelings to eleven.

Even though he was looking past her straight at Faker, Shadow saw Rouge’s face smooth out in understanding. “Oh, Shads, is this the guy?”

“Maybe so.” Despite the glare Shadow was giving him, the boy’s grin didn’t falter one bit.

“Well, even though it’s much shorter than the last time we met-nice look by the way-I thought I recognized the sandy blond mop on that edgy looking body. So, my dear friend Tails thought we should say hello.” He clapped a hand on his “dear friend’s” shoulder, who just rolled his eyes in response. “Figures we deserve a proper introduction, _soulmate_.” The word made Shadow’s skin crawl.

“Figures.” He waited for the other to speak first.

“The name’s Sonic, Sonic Boom.”

Shadow lifted an eyebrow. “Really? Your parents named you a pun?”

Sonic shook his head proudly. “Nope! Picked out this first name all by myself.” Regardless of the confident smile Sonic was sporting, the sudden tension in his shoulders and stiffening of his posture was obvious. He was nervous of Shadow’s response. Come to think of it, the kid did look a little different than when Shadow first saw him…Well, despite his hatred for the boy who was supposed to be his soulmate, Shadow wasn’t a dick. He wasn’t going to make fun of the name Sonic had picked out for himself.

“Of course you did,” he said with a shrug. Rouge raised an eyebrow and elbowed him in the ribs, nudging him to introduce himself in return. “Uh, I’m Shadow Doom.”

“Nice name, did your mom pick it out for you?” The blond kid, Tails, gave Sonic an incredulous look, while Rouge did her best not to cough on the bit of popsicle she had in her mouth. She was laughing at _that_ retort? Seriously? She rested a hand on Shadow’s shoulder to steady herself, but he pulled away. She would get no support from him. Laughing at a lame joke like that. He turned his focus back to Sonic.

“I don’t have a mom.” He said it matter of factly, rather than coldly, since most people assumed he had a mother who’d died when he said that, regardless of his tone. And-yup, the boy was paling already, while his friend smacked him on the back of the head.

“Oh.”

“I have two dads,” he clarified. Rouge snorted, giving the two boys a sympathetic look as they both relaxed. Tails sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets, and Sonic’s face lit up.

“Hey, lucky! That’s twice as many as I have.” Another disbelieving look from Tails.

“Sonic.” He held up two fingers with one hand, the other he gestured the clueless boy to try again.

“Or, wait, two _more_ than I have?” Tails smiled and nodded. “Yeah, cuz two times zero is still zero. Got it.” He looked back at Shadow. “I’m not the best at math.”

“Evidently.”

“Hey, I’m just trying to make conversation.”

“I can’t imagine why.” There, Shadow had sufficiently put his walls up. Just because he wasn’t against showing basic common courtesy to this guy, it still didn’t mean he was about to suddenly let him into his life, no matter who he was. The two looked into each others’ eyes, clearly unsure of what to do next.

Luckily, or unluckily, neither of them had to say anything. “Uh, hi, I’m Rouge. I’ve seen you guys around school.” She turned her attention to Tails. “You’re that really smart kid who skipped a couple grades, right?”

The boy brightened up. “Yeah, that’d be me! You’re that really cool girl who skips a couple classes every day, right?”

Rouge put a hand over her heart, clearly flattered. “Aw, only one of those things is true, dear. But I don’t think I need to tell you that skipping class doesn’t make you cool; you seem too intelligent for that.” She bit off the last bit of popsicle, and began gesturing with the wooden stick like a pointer. “My dear friend Shadow is going to be attending Emerald High next year. Will we see you two there?”

“Sure will!” Tails glanced at Sonic, who was still holding a staring contest with Shadow. “Right, Sonic?”

“Yeah, right.” Sonic crossed his arms over his chest. “Can’t wait to see you there, Faker.”

“I’m sure you can, considering I’ll be doing my best to avoid you there,” he replied smoothly.

“Is that so? Well, you aren’t gonna get rid of me that easily,” he declared. Suddenly there was a loud buzzing sound. Sonic uncrossed his arms and pulled a phone out of his large hoodie pocket. His face shifted, an embarrassed look overtaking it.

“…Starting after this.”

“Is that Aleena?”

“Yeah. She wants me home soon.” Shadow and Rouge looked at each other and bit back laughs at the verbal irony.

“We will meet again, Mr. Shadow Doom.” He pointed at Shadow and smirked. “Next time on my terms.” Shadow resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“Well, it was a pleasure to meet you both,” Rouge said cheerily, fluttering her fingers in a good-bye wave. Tails waved politely, and Sonic did a peace sign at her.

“Right back at you, girl. And, Shadow, it was nice to meet you officially. And without trying to beat you up.” Sonic gave him a smirk. Shadow scowled and snapped his popsicle stick in half. Tails’ eyes widened and Sonic began backing up, his hands raised in an “easy there” position. “Message received. We’ll get out of your beautiful blonde hair. For now.” And with that, the pair turned and took off away from the playground.

“Aw, someone clearly likes you,” Rouge teased. Shadow’s scowl deeped and he began absentmindedly played with strands of his short blond hair. With Sonic able to see yellow, the boy would probably easily spot him in a crowd. An idea popped into his head.

“Hey, Rouge, you still need help bleaching your hair next week, right?”

“Yeah. I’m going for a platinum look. This black is getting too dull. Was gonna try purple, but decided against it since, you know, I only have blue right now, and I wouldn’t know if it looked bad.” She tapped her popsicle stick on her knee as she spoke. “Why?”

“You wouldn’t mind helping me achieve something similar, would you?”

* * *

The next time Sonic saw Shadow, he almost didn’t.

It was the first day of ninth grade, and he couldn’t wait to start the most important four years of his life. He walked into the building with a spring in his step, a backpack on his shoulders, and optimism in his heart. Nothing could ruin his good mood.

Except for the end of the day.

He was waiting for Tails outside the building after the final bell when he spotted a girl in a bright red jacket leaning against the wall and talking to someone with dark hair whose back was to Sonic. After a couple seconds of awkward staring, Sonic perked up as he was able to place where he’d seen the girl before: Rouge, the really cool chick who was friends with Shadow. Sonic didn’t have any classes with her, so he decided to take it upon himself to go say hello.

She glanced in his direction as he headed over and her eyes widened just a little bit. She seemed to trail off mid-sentence before falling into a relaxed smile and knowing eyes that looked back at her conversation partner.

The person turned around and froze, crimson eyes locking with Sonic’s, and he stopped walking for a second as suddenly everything clicked.

It was him.

That bastard had ditched the blond look for hair as dark as midnight.

Sonic put on his best performative smile and continued walking towards the pair, pretending to ignore Shadow’s attempt to get away just as Rouge snatched his wrist and gave it a hard tug. Sonic got the message, but he wasn’t about to let him run away that easily.

“Hey, Rouge, right?” He gave his coolest finger guns to the girl, who rolled her eyes but smiled. Shadow was still locked in her steely grip, ignoring Sonic to look up at the sky.

“That’d be me. Pleasure to see you again, Sonic.” Her smile was sweet and friendly but the way her fingers dug into Shadow’s wrist told another story. Sonic made a mental note to never get on her bad side.

“Isn’t it always?” He studied her for a moment, realizing why it’d taken him a moment to recognize her. “You changed your hair, huh?”

“Yeah, I did. Got it cut professionally but Shadow helped me dye it.” Rouge gently played with the bright white locks. “Looks good, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it does.” He rocked back and forth on his feet before turning to acknowledge Shadow, who’d stopped staring at the sky and had placed his focus on the ground.

“Hi Shadow.”

“Hello, Sonic.” Silence. Intense eye contact. A questioning eyebrow from Shadow, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. Sonic had no idea if he was intimidated or excited.

At the sound of a lard horn honk, Rouge took the opportunity to finally release her friend’s wrist. “I think I’m gonna go. My ride's here. You two have fun.”

Shadow’s expression fell. “Rou-”

“You can’t come with me. Nice try.” She seemed to be giving him a command with just her eyes. “That nice boy Knuckles offered me a ride home. His older brother’s driving us. No extra seats.”

“I don’t-”

“Just wait here for your bus, dear.” Her serious look faded as she looked at Sonic. “Pleasure to see you again, Blue,” she said, glancing down at the sweatshirt Sonic was wearing.

“You too…uh, Red!” Rouge let out a chuckle and waved good-bye. Once she was far gone enough, Sonic immediately turned to Shadow.

“You dyed your hair.”

Shadow blinked, seeming unsure at how to react to the accusatory remark. After a second, his confusion seemed to slowly melt into satisfaction.

“Yeah, I did,” he said triumphantly, running a hand through the pitch black locks. “You like it, soulmate?”

Sonic just stared, confused. “You did this? For what?”

“Why not?” Shadow stated, crossing his arms.

_“Why?”_

“Why _not?”_

“Why though?”

“Felt like a change,” he finally said, raising an eyebrow. “Plus the lack of yellow in my hair will make it harder for you to find me in a crowd.”

Of course. Sonic’s suspicions had been right. “So you’re avoiding me,” he stated firmly.

“That would be an accurate statement, yes.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

“Oh come on, Shadow, seriously.” Sonic had no idea why Shadow hadn’t just run away at this point, and suspected the boy was actually enjoying poking fun at Sonic’s anger.

“I’m avoiding you. I told you that’d be my intention,” he stated flatly, crossing his arms and giving Sonic a challenging look.

“What do you have against me, anyway?” If this guy was going to be difficult, Sonic figured he at least deserved an explanation for his behavior.

“Your loud and annoying voice. Your bright blond hair. Your lame blue sweatshirt that you’re still wearing after four years.” Sonic bristled at that last one. The sweatshirt was a source of comfort to him, he didn’t appreciate this slander from someone who barely knew him.

Still, as much as some of them stung, they just felt like things Shadow was complaining about, not any real grudges. “Fine, those are all valid, but what do you actually have _against_ me?”

A devious smirk is all Sonic got before he was pinned against the brick wall next to him, a pair of hands pressed against his chest and red eyes very close to his own. Sonic wasn’t sure if it was the sudden slam into the wall or the intensity of Shadow’s eyes boring into him but he found it very hard to breathe.

“My hands, it seems,” the boy said in response to the question. He leaned in the slightest bit closer and whispered, “Don’t make me fight you, Boom. You’ll lose, and you’ll get in trouble. I doubt you’d want that, golden boy.” Sonic knew, he just _knew_ other students nearby were watching them, but all he could focus on was Shadow.

“So, if you could leave me alone, we won’t have any more moments like this, and I think the two of us will work things out just fine.” He released Sonic and backed up, giving him a daring look. “How’s that sound?”

It sounded bad. It really did. Sonic thought Shadow had originally just been pissed at him before, but he was serious. He really didn’t seem to want Sonic in his life. And why not? All Sonic’s life he wanted colors, and to fall in love with someone just seemed like an added bonus. Why was Shadow so against that?

Shadow seemed to take Sonic’s silence as a cue to leave, and was about to when Sonic grabbed his wrist. He looked up at the blond kid with almost offense in his eyes, that widened as he saw Sonic’s determined look.

“I told you that you won’t be able to get rid of me that easily,” Sonic promised. “And my mom didn’t raise a quitter.”

Shadow glanced around the courtyard, and Sonic felt the tips of his ears turn red as he realized just how many eyes were on the two of them. Nevertheless, he refused to release Shadow’s wrist, he refused to let his soulmate just walk away.

The look on Shadow’s face was…unusual. Sonic didn’t quite understand it, the shifting eyes and the uncomfortable frown. He was-embarrassed? Shadow? He had such a “dgaf” kind of vibe, Sonic was surprised he’d even noticed the people around them, much less cared about what they thought. Then, just as his expression was there, it was gone, replaced with dark eyes and a deep frown.

“Well, I hate to disappoint you, Boom, but you’re barking up the wrong tree.” He pulled out of Sonic’s grip. The boy let him. Something flickered in Shadow’s eyes again. “I’m s…” Sonic froze, anticipating words he knew were too good to be true.

They were.

“I have to go.” The dark haired teen turned on his heel and skated-yes, _skated_ away. Sonic was left alone, getting strange looks from peers. His hands found his backpack straps and gripped them tightly, shrinking his head down and shuffling towards his own bus.

_Fine, Shadow Doom,_ Sonic thought. _Two can play at that game._

* * *

Two weeks. Nothing but brushing off and ignoring, glares from Shadow any time he locked eyes with Sonic, short sentences of a few deflecting words whenever Sonic tried to talk to him. He was grateful the boy had such outlandish bright blond hair, it made him easier to spot and avoid in the halls. Having the same lunch period was annoying, because Sonic always made some kind of effort to say hi to him, and Rouge didn’t make matters better by entertaining conversation.

Things went from bad to worse the day that asshole came up to him at lunch wearing a golden yellow top, and if that wasn’t bad enough, his bright blond hair was now different.

Blue.

The motherfucker had dyed his hair _blue_.

“Hey, Big Blue!” Shadow gripped his fork and glared at the table, quietly hoping Rouge would let this conversation go short for once. “New look, huh?”

“Yeah, you like it?” Sonic tightened his ponytail and smiled proudly at Rouge. “I’m hoping it looks good, I can’t actually see it.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Shadow bit his tongue to not shout when Rouge kicked him under the table. “Why dye your hair a color you can’t see?”

“You know how it is,” Sonic said with a shrug. “Blue go brrr. My siblings and I all dyed my hair this weekend. I helped Manic pick out his green, and gave Sonia the gay stamp of approval on her pink.” Sonic did the gay hand when he said “gay stamp of approval,” and Shadow wanted nothing more than to roundhouse kick him.

“Well, that sounds lovely, hun. Shadow…” Rouge elbowed him. “Doesn’t it look nice?” He offered nothing but a grunt in response. Honestly? Sonic did look kind of cute. But the thought just pissed Shadow off even more, so he remained silent. He shoved a forkful of salad into his mouth to avoid looking at Sonic.

“Well, there is another reason I dyed it blue.” Sonic slid into the seat across from Shadow, leaning and arm on the table and giving a playful smirk. “Any idea why that is, Shads?”

Nicknames.

Fuck this boy.

Shadow stood up abruptly and started stomping away from the table. Rouge would be annoyed with him but he didn’t care. Sonic would be annoyed- _good_. Shadow wasn’t even sure where he was going, but next thing he knew he was out of the cafeteria in the empty hallway. He stopped and sighed, glancing around the hall, unsure what he wanted to do next. Ditch lunch, wait a few minutes before going back, or go back immediately and demand Sonic leave?

None of the above, as it turns out.

“You won’t be able to ignore me that easily,” came a stubborn voice from behind him.

Shadow seethed. What was it about Sonic, how did he get under Shadow’s skin like that? What was so annoying that he wanted to keep pushing Sonic away, yet he enjoyed clowning on the boy so much, teasing and making fun of him just to get a reaction. Why did he always stay when he should just run away?

“I don’t know what you’re referring to,” he said calmly, turning around and crossing his arms, putting his walls up.

“Oh come on Shadow, that’s rich.” Sonic’s eyes narrowed and he mirrored Shadow’s cross body language. “You’re ignoring me, plain as that. I came to your table and you got up and left after I asked you a question.”

“A ridiculous question.”

“One you still haven’t answered.”

Shadow didn’t want to play this silly little game. He wanted to tell Sonic to fuck right off, to leave him alone and stop god damn bothering him. But it’s not like the boy would take a hint, he clearly was determined to get under Shadow’s skin, and he was so damn good at it. Maybe the universe got this one right, that Sonic was made for him, because literally everything the boy did left Shadow angry and confused and just wanting to get away from him as quickly as possible. Shadow had never heard of soulmates being anything _but_ romantic or platonic, but hey, there was a first time for everything.

“All right, Boom, I’ll bite,” he finally said. “You dyed your hair because of me, isn’t that it?”

“Yup! Now you won’t be able to avoid me so much.”

The confidence this boy had. “Doesn’t this mean I can spot you better and do just that?”

Sonic clearly pretended he had realized that. “Well, you’ll still be able to see me.”

“Was that really the reason you dyed your hair a color you can’t even see? To purposely piss me off?” The two stared at each other, matching scowls on both their faces, until Sonic’s face softened slightly, his eyebrows less vicious and his eyes more concerned. Shadow didn’t drop his act, though.

The blue boy sighed. “Listen, Shadow.”

“Listening, Boom.”

“You know, we don’t have to do…this.” He recrossed his arms and pouted, to emphasize his point. Shadow bit back a laugh.

“Do what? Our so-called ‘rivalry’? If I recall, _you_ originally fought _me_ , remember?”

“I did. I do. And I regret it.” Shadow was surprised. Regret? Really? Sonic seemed serious about it too. “Look, we know that we’re soulmates, right? So, why not give it a shot? If we’re destined to be together-”

“No fucking way.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, but they were the truth. It was his gut reaction, how he really felt. He didn’t even want the chance of giving him a shot.

Sonic flinched slightly at the blunt words. “Excuse me?”

“I may be your soulmate, but I’m not your friend,” Shadow explained. “I’m not your partner. I’m not _yours_. I think I’ve made it pretty clear to you that I. Don’t. Want. This.”

“What the heck is your problem? Why are you so against it?” Sonic looked genuinely hurt as he spoke. It was the first time since their proper introduction he didn’t have his cool guy persona he paraded around school. “I’m willing to give this a shot but you’re taking every opportunity to avoid us.”

“It’s not a big deal-” he protested, but was cut off.

“Maybe not to you, but it is to me. We’re supposed to be soulmates, fall in love or something like that and you won’t even give me the time of day.”

“I don’t want to be told what to do.”

“I know that, but this isn’t you being told what to do…” He stepped towards Shadow and gently took the boy’s hand, looking him softly in the eyes. “…It’s us taking a chance we might never have on our own.”

Shadow didn’t pull away from the hand holding, but he didn’t reciprocate either, he just kind of let it hang there. Sonic must have seen the uncertainty in the boy’s eyes, because his softness faltered, replaced with hurt.

“You really don’t want to do this, do you?” he asked quietly, eyes dropping to the ground.

He couldn’t lie to him. “No.”

“Why do you hate the fact that we’re soulmates so much?” He scanned the floor, as if the answer to his question would be there, before his gaze settled, and he squeezed his eyes shut. “Is it because it’s me?” He looked up at Shadow with pain in his eyes.

“No-” Shadow tried, but he wasn’t even sure if that was the truth.

The boy scowled. “Sorry if I’m not your ideal partner-”

“Sonic that’s not it-”

“Then what? Then why?”

“I don’t want a soulmate at all!” he snapped, yanking his hand out of Sonic’s grip. “I don’t want to fall in love, I don’t want to be forced into a relationship with someone I don’t care about, and I don’t give two shits if I never see color again if it means I don’t have to fall in love with you!”

Something flickered in Shadow’s vision. His heart dropped as he watched all the color drain from the boy in front of him, leaving Sonic a monochromatic picture of sadness, save for his azure hair and sweatshirt.

Shadow realized what he’d done.

“Sonic-” he started, reaching out towards the heartbroken boy, who just stepped back, tears forming in his eyes.

“I didn’t mean to-” he tried again, but Sonic cut him off.

“Fuck off, Shadow.” The two were frozen for a second, Shadow looking regretfully into teary gray eyes. And then the boy was nothing but a blue blur zipping down the hallway, running off to who knows where.

Numbly, Shadow walked back through the doors of the cafeteria and returned to his seat next to Rouge. He sat down and picked up his fork, but just stared vacantly, trying to process what had just happened.

“Running off? Dick move, dumbass.”

He just gripped his fork in his hand, barely processing Rouge’s words.

“Shads? You okay?”

Shadow couldn’t answer her, he could only stare at the cold, gray world he’d been reduced to with just a single outburst. He bit the inside of his cheek as he felt tears coming that he absolutely did not want to show right now or ever. A single thought penetrated all the rest.

He’d failed to do what Maria wanted.

He hadn’t appreciated the colors he gained, and now they were gone.

* * *

“Which shirt? One or two?”

Manic held up two hangers with tops on them, one was striped and the other checkered, and Sonic wanted to just scream. Manic had a date, and his siblings were helping him pick out an outfit to wear. Sonia had finally met Knuckles in person, shaking his hand because she was formal like that and nearly screaming when she started seeing the color green. So she was currently on accessories duty, while Sonic was to help with the main outfit, and it was driving him crazy. He couldn’t tell what outfits were what colors, and it left him feeling like a failure. He could either just pick one and keep lying like he had for a whole week, or he could tell them-

“I don’t know. I can’t see the colors.”

Sonia looked up from the selection of shoes she was going through, her face still and eyes wide. Manic dropped the hangers he was holding and his mouth fell open.

“What do you mean you can’t see them? They both have green in them.” Sonia continued staring, dumbfounded, until she gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth. Her next sentence was a hushed whisper.

“You lost them, didn’t you?”

“Not all of them,” Sonic started, but his brother cut him off.

“What happened?”

“Let me explain!” Sonic sat down on the bed and pulled his knees up to his chest. “It’s kind of a long story.” His siblings joined him on the bed and listened as he told them what happened with Shadow.

“That asshole,” Sonia declared once he was finished.

As annoyed as he was with Shadow, Sonic didn’t want to talk or think ill of him. “I mean, I did push things a little far-”

“No. You didn’t do anything wrong. You told him how you felt, and he was the jerk about it,” she protested. Somehow hearing his friends speak badly of Shadow made him feel worse. Everything was just mixed up and confusing to him.

“I don’t know how I feel,” he said honestly. “I just don’t want to lose him.” Sonic hugged his knees to his chest as his siblings shared a concerned glance. “And I just want my colors back.”

Manic laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Sonic-”

“I messed up everything with him,” he continued, burying his face into his knees.

“Yeah,” Manic agreed. Sonia smacked her insensitive brother on the arm. “What? He did!”

“He’s right, Sonia,” Sonic insisted, his voice muffled inside the little ball he’d curled into. “I pushed him away, and now I’m paying the price for it. I’ll probably never get my colors.”

“Come on, bro, don’t say that.” Manic gently rubbed Sonic’s shoulder. “You never know, people can turn around.”

“But he doesn’t want me.” Sonic shook his head. “Why would I want someone who doesn’t want me?” He hated crying in front of anyone, his siblings especially, but he couldn’t help it. This sucked. It was hurting him more than he thought it should. A few tears ran down his face and he wiped them off on his sleeve.

“How about this?” Manic said softly, straightening himself up and looking his brother in the eyes. “This happened a week ago, yeah? So why not give him a little space, then talk to him again. He could see how much you were hurting, you said he seemed to be apologizing before you told him to…” The devilish boy smirked. “What was it again?”

Sonic chuckled. “I’m not saying it-”

“‘Fuck off,’” Sonia declared. “Can you believe it? _Our_ baby brother? The audacity.”

“Shut up,” Sonic said with a laugh. “I was mad, okay?”

“Valid.” Manic ruffled his brother’s hair. “Think about doing what I said, all right? Give him some space, and when the time is right, talk to him. Try to be his friend before anything.”

Sonic nodded slowly. “Okay.”

Friends. Yeah. Sonic could do that.

* * *

Shadow didn’t hate to say it: cooking class was fucking boring. Yeah it was a good skill to have and the food they made was delicious, but the class was still boring and the teacher treated them much too like children. They weren’t even doing any actual cooking today, just watching a video and taking notes, so the boy had no problem with skipping.

He would have tried to meet up with Rouge, but she was in bio, one of the few classes she liked, so instead he just aimlessly skated through the halls, avoiding whenever he heard a teacher walk by, until he eventually took refuge under the stairs in the east wing.

He was casually skating back and forth, his eyes glued to his phone as he scrolled through boring posts on tumblr. He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he almost missed the footsteps coming towards him. He froze and slowly lowered his phone, preparing to run.

“Shadow.” The voice made his blood run cold. He turned around slowly and saw his rival, blue as ever. In more ways than just his hair color, there was regret in his eyes and a disappointed frown on his face.

Shadow crossed his arms and frowned at the newcomer. “Can I help you, Boom?” His tone wasn’t abrasive, but it wasn’t friendly either. Sonic bit his lip and fiddled with the pocket of his sweatshirt, clearly thinking of what to say next. Shadow was beginning to wonder how Sonic knew when he’d been cutting class to go look for him. Rouge, most likely.

“We don’t have to hurt each other like this,” the boy finally blurted out. Wow. That was…unexpected. Obviously Sonic cared more about his failed attempt at being Shadow’s soulmate, so of course he was remorseful. But just jumping right into it? Well, if there was anything he’d learned from the few interactions they’d had, it’s that Sonic got to the point. Shadow, however, had no such luxury in that department.

“Who says I’m hurting?” There was no way Faker knew how he felt. Sure, he’d cracked when the world was full of nothing but blue, and reached out to Sonic to try and apologize, but that was just common decency. So yeah. What did Sonic know?

“You,” he stated plainly. Shadow raised an eyebrow. How could he possibly know that he was hurting? “The fact that I lost all my colors-” Shadow froze, eyes suddenly wide. “-but one. Makes for a safe assumption.”

Shadow didn’t know what to think. Why hadn’t he realized that’s what would have happened? He damaged his relationship with his soulmate and lost yellow, of course the same would be true for Sonic. And Sonic said he lost all his “colors,” meaning he had more than two? How much _had_ Shadow hurt him? “What color do you have left?” he asked, trying to keep his voice level.

“Red. The color of pain. Hurt. Betrayal. Anger.” Every adjective was like another knife to the gut. Sonic didn’t seem furious, but there was definitely rage thinly veiled beneath his even voice.

“Sounds awful,” Shadow stated numbly.

“It was. It still is.”

The two just stood there somberly. The only thoughts swirling about in Shadow’s head were of how guilty he felt over hurting Sonic. Yes, the boy had been too aggressive for his liking, and despite the confession of how much damage had been done to him, Shadow still didn’t want to fall in love like Sonic wanted. Soulmates be damned, he was his own damn person with his own principles, the soulmate thing didn’t have to define him.

“So, what-”

“I’m sorry.”

“...now?” There was no way Shadow had heard that right. “You’re sorry?”

Sonic nodded seriously, taking a deep breath. “I am. We don’t have to fall in love right away. Being soulmates is a partnership and I’m sorry for trying to force something on you. We don’t have to be anything you don’t want.”

Shadow breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“But…” Faker just had to ruin a nice apology, didn’t he? Shadow narrowed his eyes. “Hey, hear me out,” Sonic said with a laugh, holding up his hands. Shadow rolled his eyes and nodded. “Can we at least be friends?”

Friends. The word wasn’t foreign to Shadow, but it wasn’t one he was well acquainted with. Rouge he had. Maybe down the line he’d have another that fit some kind of squad for the two of them. But Sonic? They were so different. “Soulmates” was enough of a stretch, because there was no way to fight that. But actively agreeing to a positive platonic relationship with him?

“Sonic-”

“I don’t need you to fall in love with me right away,” the boy interrupted, his words rushed and worried. “Maybe not even ever. But can we at least try to be civil towards each other?” He stuck out a hand and gave Shadow a hopeful smile. “Friends first?”

Somehow this felt final. Sonic had reached out to Shadow plenty of times since they found each other again after their long separation from when they first met and discovered what they were to each other. The sunny disposition and friendly attitude despite all of the times Shadow pushed him away made him suspect maybe Sonic would continue to try even if Shadow said no here.

But that idea was smothered by just the smallest bit of doubt, that if Shadow rejected him one more time, that was it. Sonic was apologizing and admitting defeat just out of hope that Shadow would agree to be friends. If Shadow rejected him again, Sonic seemed like the type to take a hint and give him space, maybe forever. Did Shadow want that? As annoying as Sonic was, a part of him ached at the idea of losing him forever. His dads always talked about how it was good for both of them that they didn’t stay with their soulmates and had found each other, but only once had Gerald admitted it had hurt him, and a part of him always felt a little lonely despite how much he loved Armin, Shadow, and Maria.

Maria.

She wants Shadow to be happy. She wants him to enjoy colors, to enjoy having a soulmate. Shadow knows if she were here she would be shaking him, telling him that he’s allowed to enjoy things in life, that he can relax every once in a while and have fun and just be a normal kid. She’d also love Sonic, he could just tell.

Sonic seemed like a decent guy. Caring, thoughtful, honest, prideful from what he’d heard around school, but right now he seemed almost humbled.

Right now. Oops. He was supposed to be giving Sonic an answer.

Shadow took the hand in front of him and gently shook it, as he looked into wide, surprised eyes. “Okay. Sure. Friends.”

“Really?” Shadow nodded. Sonic breathed out a sigh of relief, almost laughing. “To be honest, I thought you were going to reject me again.”

“No, I’ll give it a shot.” He pulled his hand away and resisted the urge to be a dick by wiping it on his sweatshirt, instead letting it fall to his side. “Don’t make me regret this, Boom,” he playfully warned.

“Promise.” Shadow pretended not to care about the boy’s sheepish smile, as much as he pretended to ignore the yellow of the scarf Sonic was wearing slowly fading into his vision.

* * *

Sonic missed green.

Don’t get him wrong, he was thrilled to have yellow back after Shadow agreed to be his friend, and he’d never lost red, but it still sucked to no longer see the color of his front lawn, or plants his friend Silver often liked to show off to him, or the color of Manic’s hair which Sonic had picked out himself.

It was his favorite color he’d gotten, and now that he and Shadow were okay becoming friends, all he wanted was to get closer to Shadow so he could get them all.

But space. Shadow was the kind of person who needed space. So Sonic had to take things slow. They were friends, and that was okay. He’d wait for Shadow for as long as he needed.

They said hi in the halls sometimes, and Sonic didn’t visit his table with Rouge as overbearingly much anymore, but they were civil enough and that was that. Besides, Sonic had his own stuff going on, friends, school, upcoming track, he didn’t need to spend too much time and energy thinking about Shadow.

About two months had passed since their mutual agreement to be friends when something changed.

Sonic was walking outside in the direction of his bus when he saw the back of a head that caught his eye. It was short black hair, which wasn’t uncommon to see, but most enticing were the red streaks in said person’s hair. Sonic raised an eyebrow, intrigued. He continued walking, and as he got closer-no way.

“Shadow?”

The figure froze before slowly swiveling around, his arms crossed and crimson eyes half-lidded.

“Yes, Sonic?” His tone wasn’t inviting, but it wasn’t malicious either. It was flat, but Sonic could sense in the boy’s tense shoulders that he was nervous. He wondered why; what did Shadow have to be nervous about?

“You…you dyed your hair,” he stated obviously.

“Yeah, I did.” Shadow brushed a bit of the red streaked hair behind his ear, crimson eyes darting to the side for a split second. “You, uh…do you like it, soulmate?”

Sonic felt his heart leap in his chest. So Shadow did it for _him_ . For _Sonic_. He knew Sonic could see red and he dyed his hair so Sonic would like it and now he’d be able to see him better and…chaos was that so refreshing to hear. He wanted to hug Shadow and say thank you and tell him just how much it meant to him but…

Space. Boundaries. He can’t rush into this.

“I do,” Sonic said shyly, scuffing his shoe on the pavement. “I think it looks nice.” Shadow didn’t smile, not that Sonic expected him to, but he did look content. The boy glanced down at Sonic’s shoes, and the content look barely shifted into one of surprise.

“Thank you.” A moment of silence fell unto both of them. Sonic wanted to say something, to keep the conversation going, to have the opportunity to stay here and keep talking to Shadow. But space, boundaries, and also he had to get on the bus soon.

“Hey.” Shadow gave a small cough into his hand. “Your, um, your shoes are nice.” Sonic glanced at the converse he was wearing, gray because he couldn’t see it yet.

“Thanks, I guess,” he said with a nervous laugh. “Do you know what color they are? I can’t see them myself.”

Shadow’s mouth twisted into a contemplative scowl. He sighed before speaking again. “Not sure, considering I just got it. I think it might be orange.”

Sonic scrunched his nose up in confusion, trying to figure out what Shadow meant. By the time he realized, the boy was already turning away. “I-”

“Sayonara, Sonic Boom.” Shadow gave a two fingered salute and rolled off to his bus.

Sonic just smiled, watching him go, feeling warmth bloom in his chest. “See ya, soon, Shads.”

* * *

It was a late Thursday evening in January. Shadow sat in his house alone, quietly freaking out.

Maria had another attack, a bad one, and he still had no idea how to cope.

His dads were at the hospital with her, to keep an eye on her and give her comfort. Shadow had school tomorrow, and both his parents insisted on him staying home. If things turned for worse they’d let him know, but for now he laid on his couch, his phone clutched in his hand, staring up at the ceiling.

Rouge and Omega had of course texted their well wishes, kind words and uplifting memes, but it was just a bandaid over an open wound. Shadow wasn’t sure what he wanted, but he knew he needed more.

A knock at his door startled him out of his self pity. He wiped the tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his sweatshirt as he slowly sat up and glanced at the door. Maybe Rouge and Omega had come by to keep him company? The thought warmed his heart, so he jumped up off the couch and walked as quickly as his tired feet dared to the front door. He opened it hesitantly, and his worries were proven right when the other at his front door wasn’t either of his friends sporting a look of pity, but a nervous boy with blue hair shivering in the rain.

“Sonic,” Shadow stated with narrowed eyes.

“H-hey, Shads,” the boy stuttered through chattering teeth. Even though his sleeves were down to his wrists instead of pushed up, he was still rubbing his arms for warmth. His hair was plastered to his head, dripping water onto his shoulders. And he was sporting the most concerned look he’d ever seen Sonic give him.

“Why are you here?” Shadow crossed his arms, his standard move in putting his walls up, even though seeing Sonic like this was more than a little worrisome.

“I, uh…was going for a run around here, and it started raining. And I saw your house, and I was like, ‘Hey, I know that guy, maybe he’ll let me in.’” His concerned look morphed into a hopeful smile that Shadow told himself was in no way cute. “Am I in luck?”

Shadow scowled, but not in a rude way, more of, he was pondering something. “You were just going for a run, huh?”

The boy nodded like a bobblehead. “Uh-huh.”

Pretending to ignore the droplets of water Sonic had accidentally just flung onto him, he continued. “At 10:30 at night?”

“Uh…I was feeling spontaneous?”

He gave Sonic a knowing look. “In jeans?”

The smile disappeared. “All right, fine, you got me.” He wiped away a strand of wet hair that had gotten in his eyes. “I came to see you. Rouge texted and told me about what happened with your sister, and she said she figured you could use me right now. Manic offered to drive me but I told him I could get here on my own, and it started raining. It…was kind of an impulse thing, so I didn’t have a raincoat-”

“Is there a point to all of this rambling, Faker?”

“Yeah.” Sonic sighed, looking Shadow directly in the eyes. “The point is, I came here to see you.”

“Why?” It was a simple question, and a fair one, in Shadow’s mind, yet it made Sonic look melancholy.

“Because, as your soulmate, it’s my duty to care for you and be by your side.”

Shadow bristled at that. It had been about two years since he and Sonic agreed to be friends their freshman year, with very little instances of the two actually hanging out and getting along. And so far there’d only been a single time the two of them hung out one on one, which didn’t go as smoothly as Shadow would have liked, but regardless. He had accepted that he and Sonic were soulmates, but it still felt weird to talk about. Being reminded that they were “destined” to be more made the relationship they’d developed feel less genuine.

Sonic wasn’t done though. “And as your friend, I really think you shouldn’t be alone right now.”

The smile Sonic was offering him was warm and genuine. The tenseness in Shadow’s shoulders vanished. Despite everything, Sonic had made an effort to be here for him. Even though he was smiling, his eyes were still uncertain, like he was worried Shadow would still turn him away.

He was worried for nothing, though.

“Get in here, Faker,” he mumbled, grabbing Sonic by the arm and pulling him through the front door. Sonic stumbled forward, but caught himself before he fell completely. He smiled at Shadow gratefully, but the boy wasn’t done. He took Sonic by the wrist and led him into the living room, sitting him down on the gray ottoman.

“I’m gonna go get you some dry clothes and a towel,” he stated, already turning on his heel to leave the room.

“Hey, Shads, wait-” the blue speedster tried to object. Shadow wasn’t having it. He spun around and raised an eyebrow at Sonic, his hands very fittingly placed on his hips.

“Boom, you’re soaked. If you want to make me feel better, I’d rather not have you getting my couch all wet. I’ll get you something else to wear, all right?” Sonic slowly nodded. “Great. Now, I know this may be hard for you, but try to remain still until I get back.” Shadow tried to crack a smile, to let Sonic know he was attempting a joke, and was relieved as he was met with a grin and a thumbs-up.

Shadow retrieved a fluffy white towel from his bathroom and clothing he hoped Sonic would find acceptable and brought them downstairs, pleasantly surprised to see Sonic exactly where Shadow had left him. His hands were intertwined and he was moving them erratically, and Shadow couldn’t help but snort laugh.

“Are you thumb wrestling yourself?” he asked, causing Sonic to flinch.

“Uhh…maybe?” Sonic eyed the pile of clothes that had been brought for him. “You sure you don’t mind me wearing your stuff?”

Shadow rolled his eyes. “For a guy who came over to my house to keep me company, you seem hesitant to do anything but just sit there.” He handed the items to Sonic. “Bathroom’s the first door on the right,” he said, jerking his thumb in the direction of the hallway.

“Thanks, Shads.” That damned smile again.

“Hey, you came here to comfort me. Least I could do is make you comfortable.” He offered a smile in return, though he knew it was no rival to Sonic’s.

The blue boy disappeared down the hall and Shadow resumed his position on the couch from earlier. He had half a mind to text Rouge and tell her that her meddling worked, but decided against it. She didn’t need to know anything that happened tonight. Not that anything _would_ happen tonight, chaos forbid.

“Nice hoodie.” Shadow sat up with a start, he hadn’t heard Sonic reenter the room. He couldn’t hold back the smile that overtook his lips when he saw his friend standing over him behind the couch, wearing his clothes. He’d given Sonic gray sweatpants and his black sweatshirt with racing stripes on the arms, which were red, according to Omega, who’d bought it for him.

“Thought you’d like it. Everything else fits all right?”

“If you mean the boxers and galaxy print sports bra-awesome choice, by the way-then yes.” The boy shoved his hands in the sweatshirt pocket and Shadow almost let out an “aww” at how adorable he looked. Thankfully, he resisted.

“I’ll have to let Maria know that her old space obsession was finally appreciated.”

“It was. Very highly.” Sonic jumped over the back of the couch and landed right next to Shadow. Bright eyes looked into Shadow’s own and the sudden intimacy of that eye contact made him reflexively look down at his lap.

“So,” he said with a cough to mask his nervousness. “What now?”

Sonic shrugged. “I dunno. You wanna talk about it?”

Shadow clenched one hand into a fist and shook his head, still not looking at Sonic. “No. Not really.” He expected prying, at least an expression of annoyance at Shadow blocking himself off again, but was met with none of that. Just a somber hum of acknowledgement.

“Understandable.” Shadow looked up, surprised, and saw a sympathetic smile and warm eyes. Sonic opened his arms hopefully, inviting Shadow into them, and the boy accepted it with little hesitation. He allowed himself to wrap his arms around Sonic’s waist, letting his head rest on Sonic’s chest. The two lay down, Shadow resting on top of Sonic, listening to the boy’s calm, even breathing, as Sonic absentmindedly played with Shadow’s hair.

“Your parents wouldn’t mind if I accidentally spent the night, right?” Sonic asked, though his words felt disconnected, as if that weren’t the only thing on his mind.

“I doubt they’d care too much,” Shadow mumbled, not wanting to distract himself from how content this moment was making him feel. “As long as you don’t make me late for the bus in the morning.”

“I’m a deep sleeper, better hope I don’t rub off on you.” They both gave a soft chuckle, neither too present in the moment. Shadow didn’t resist the urge to snuggle up closer to his friend, nor the sigh of relief that passed his lips.

“I’ll get you up early enough, promise.”

“Thanks, Shads.”

They sat in silence for who knows how long, fifteen minutes? Thirty? An hour? It could have been days for all Shadow knew because he was just so lost in how comfortable Sonic’s presence made him, how intimate yet normal it felt. He could feel himself drifting off to sleep when he felt something being pressed against the top of his head.

A kiss. Sonic had just kissed him.

And it left him with nothing but pure warmth and joy in his chest, love in his heart.

It wasn’t shocking enough to keep him from falling asleep, though, and as unconsciousness began to take hold of him, he heard his soulmate whisper something.

“You know, I’ve only just noticed how good you look in violet.”

* * *

“Are you sure about this?” Sonic asked, anxiously fiddling with his gloves.

Shadow rolled his eyes. “We scheduled a time in advance weeks ago, you came all the way here, got disinfected, you’re wearing the mask and gloves and we’re outside the door, and now you’re gonna ask if I’m sure about this?”

Sonic laughed nervously. “I’ve been worried this whole time, idiot. I mean, of course I want to meet your sister, but like, I don’t want to endanger her. Or worse, embarrass myself.”

Shadow elbowed his friend and snorted. “Come one, Sonic. Like I said, you’re disinfected and as long as you keep your distance you’ll have nothing to worry about. As for embarrassing yourself, I’ve already told her stories, so go in with less dignity than you usually present.”

“Betrayed. By my own soulmate. I can’t believe it.”

“Don’t you know me by now, Faker? I’d sell you to Satan for one corn chip.” Shadow’s hand rested on the door handle.

“Just one? Damn, I figured I’d at least be worth a whole bag.” His eyes flickered to Shadow’s hand and he stiffened. “You…are sure about this? You really want me to meet Maria?”

“I would find it nice if two of the most important people in my life finally met.” Sonic bit his lip, grateful that the face mask hid the small blush in his cheeks. “I’ve told her pretty much everything about us, what little there is to tell anyway. She may poke fun, but she means well. She kind of reminds me of you.”

“Really? How?”

  
  
“You’re both caring individuals. Always smiling. Always kind, despite your many, many annoyances.” Sonic laughed and punched Shadow on the arm. “And you’re both incredibly stubborn, since you both relentlessly insisted on an in person first meeting rather than, I don’t know, a Skype call or something.”

“I think it’d be fun, leave me alone!” Sonic let out a small laugh, a genuine one, not one prompted by nervousness to alleviate tension. “Okay, okay, it worked.”

“What did?” Sonic didn’t have to see Shadow’s mouth to know he was sporting an “I won,” smirk.

“You trying to distract me to calm my nerves before we see Maria. It worked.” Shadow’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Hey, as dumb as Sonic could be, he was more than a little perceptive. And something about Shadow, reading him just came easier than other people. Tails continually chalked it up to them being soulmates. Not that Sonic spent too much time ranting about Shadow to Tails. Just more than he talked about Shadow to anyone else, especially about his own feelings.

Since the night he kissed Shadow, albeit on the forehead and not the lips like he secretly wanted, those feelings refused to go away. Shadow was on his mind more than he’d rather admit. He made more of an effort to spend time with the edgy boy, although so far they’d been unable to hang out one on one like Sonic would have liked. But Shadow had finally relented and given Sonic his number, which allowed them to talk even when they couldn’t see each other. It was a nice thought, that Shadow would always be right with him, physically or not.

“Hello? Earth to Sonic Boom?” The boy startled, he hadn’t realized Shadow was talking to him.

“Sorry, I zoned out there, what?” Shadow gave him a slightly irritated look.

“I asked if you’re ready to go in?” Oh. Right. The reason they were here.

“Yeah, I am. I’m ready now.” And with that confirmation, Shadow turned the knob and opened the door.

Maria’s hospital room was, if nothing else, clean. It was a pretty big room, with what Sonic assumed were just bare essentials; tables with drawers for holding necessary supplies, a couple of shelves on the walls, and of course Maria’s bed, with her in it. She was connected to a few machines that seemed to be monitoring some things, Sonic guessed her vitals.

“Hello, welcome to my humble abode!” the woman said cheerfully. “Sorry the place is such a mess, I didn’t have the opportunity to clean today.”

“You live in a pigsty,” Shadow joked smoothly. “Honestly, angel, you can barely see the floor.” He walked over the spotless tile floor to the bed and gave his sister a quick hug. “Nice to see you, Maria.”

“Nice to see you too, Shadow man.” She turned her attention to Sonic, who was standing awkwardly by the foot of her bed. “This must be the soulmate I’ve heard so much about.”

“The one and only!” Sonic put his hands on his hips and flashed a smile. “Your trash can brother is my destiny, and I’m his.” He relished in the laugh that came out of Maria, juxtaposed with the groan and facepalm from Shadow.

“Oh, come on, Sonic. Don’t insult trash cans like that,” Maria said with a snort. Sonic laughed at that as well, and Shadow just buried his face in his hands.

“Chaos,” he grumbled. “There’s fucking two of you.”

“Language!” the pair said in unison, high fiving each other as they giggled. Shadow rolled his eyes, but Sonic could tell from his expression that he was suppressing a smile.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Maria. Honestly. It’s been like, a year and a half since I first heard about you.”

“You think that’s a long time? Try hearing when you’re sixteen that your ten year old brother got yelled at by and _fought_ his soulmate, then waiting _eight years_ to meet him in person.”

“Chaos, we do _not_ need to bring this up.” Shadow was starting to look genuinely irritated, and the last thing Sonic wanted to do was make him upset right now.

“You’re right, we don’t.” Both Maria and Shadow looked at Sonic with the same curious expression. “I’m here to get acquainted with your sister, Shads, not talk about us”

So they did. Sonic sat down on the edge of Maria’s bed and the two discussed life, school, family. Sonic did his best not to bring up why Maria was in the hospital to begin with, only very minimally addressing it when she brought it up first. But most of their conversation was one of them, usually Sonic, talking about something with the other engagingly asking questions or bringing up other related topics. There were some points where Sonic honestly forgot Shadow was there with them until he spoke up, adding details to a story or correcting Sonic when he said something false, which Sonic didn’t half mind for once. Shadow seemed more relaxed as well, taking little verbal jabs from Sonic without a fight.

“You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to keep him out of trouble,” Sonic said, jerking a thumb in Shadow’s direction. “But, I do my best.”

“Says the guy who got caught trying to hide frogs in one of the Spanish classrooms last month,” Shadow shot back.

Maria snorted. “You did what?”

“Hey, don’t blame me for that! It was Knuckles’ idea. He just needed a box, and I had one.”

“A box,” Shadow repeated. “You helped him out because you had _a box.”_

“ _And_ because he’s my best friend,” Sonic retorted. “ And best friends help each other do things.”

A roll of eyes. “Even when said thing gets you in-school suspended for two weeks?”

An eyebrow raise and cocky grin. “Even then.”

_“I_ think that’s sweet.”

Shadow looked at his sister incredulously. “You what?”

“I do. It shows that you care about your friends, you’re a ride or die kinda guy.” Sonic smiled. Hey, that rhymed! Also what Maria was saying was kind.

She grinned at her brother softly. “You’re lucky to have someone like him in your life, Shadow man.”

“Yeah, I am.” Sonic turned and looked into crimson eyes on him that were nothing but fond, a small smile tugging at Shadow’s lips, an expression that left Sonic feeling breathless.

He took a deep breath to try and relax, but immediately felt the wind knocked out of him once more as his eyes were assaulted by the appearance of a new color.

It was like the room exploded with it. The walls were bright, Maria’s dress she was wearing lit up, her wide eyes now seemed like they went on forever. Sonic caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of one of the dark screens by Maria’s bedside and saw his own hair, jarring, bright blue.

He did a double take, nearly falling off the bed until Shadow caught his arm.

“Sonic? Are you alright?” His attention was brought to the only non-blue thing in the room-his soulmate. He was quite the opposite of the bright, sharp blue that engulfed them. He was a deep, calming red. His ruby eyes which usually felt like daggers when directed at Sonic, now round, wide, and concerned. The red streaks in his hair flashed at him, the streaks that Shadow had done for Sonic years ago, as an apology, so Sonic could see him. The red face mask he was wearing because he wanted to be around his sister and keep her safe. It was red, Sonic’s first color, the one to lead him to his soulmate. Sonic had been too focused on how hurtful and ugly red was, he never realized how beautiful it could be.

Despite the whole world having lit up with blue, Sonic’s eyes were only on Shadow.

“Hey, kiddo, you in there?” Maria waved a shy hand next to Sonic’s face, finally snapping the boy out of his trance.

“It’s beautiful,” he whispered, eyes darting around the room. “I see why you’re so fond of blue, Shadow.”

Maria covered her mouth with one hand, a small “aw” leaving her lips as Shadow stared back at Sonic, a faint blush of red in his cheeks. He turned away, clearly flustered, only to freeze when his gaze landed on a certain object in the room. The bright red first aid kit on one of the shelves.

Sonic bit back a laugh as he realized what had just happened for his soulmate. He rested a hand on top of Shadow’s, which still had a gentle hold on Sonic’s arm.

“Something caught your eye, Shads?” The boy looked back at Sonic with surprise, eyes wide and mouth slightly open and Sonic couldn’t help but think how cute he looked and all he wanted to do was pull him in for a kiss then and there. Ever since he’d kissed Shadow that one night a couple months ago he yearned to kiss him again, for real. To show Shadow how much he meant to him, and maybe gaining another color on the way.

But now wasn’t the time. Today wasn’t about them, it was about Maria. As Shadow looked at himself in the reflection of a dark monitor, absentmindedly touching his red mask, Sonic turned back to Maria and started detailing the classroom frogs incident.

Yeah, maybe their first kiss was something he could save for later.

Besides, Maria would never let either of them live it down if they didn’t.

* * *

_“Hey, Shadow?”_

_“What’s up?”_

_“I was wondering if you wanted to hang out this weekend?”_

_“Why? We just saw each other last week, when we went to see Maria.”_

_“Yeah, I know, but I was hoping we could hang out just the two of us. Like a date.”_

_“A…date?”_

_“Yeah. I mean, no, not if you don’t want to. I meant like we could just hang out, just us. Of course, if you’re not busy this weekend. I wouldn’t want to be presumptive if you were, but-”_

_“Oh, take it easy you nervous wreck.”_ _Shadow couldn’t help but laugh at Sonic’s flustered reaction._ _“What time?”_

A date. The word bounced around Shadow’s head like a Windows screensaver. Sure, he’d developed quite the crush for Sonic over the past few months, and the boy was significantly less annoying than he used to be and was fun to hang out with, but still. A date. Shadow had no idea what it would entail, since Sonic promised he’d plan the whole thing (though he also promised it’d be small and casual). Still, he had no idea what to expect.

Sonic said to meet him at his house around six pm on Sunday. So here he was, at 5:57, on Sonic’s porch, internally psyching himself up and freaking himself out. Granted, it was probably over nothing, but the nervousness continued to eat him up inside anyway.

The door opened suddenly, making Shadow nearly jump out of his skin. A pair of steely brown eyes bore into him.

“Hey, Sonia,” he mumbled, trying to regain his composure. “You startled me. Uh, is Sonic ready?” The girl raised an eyebrow at him.

“He should be, considering I’ve been helping him get ready for the last half hour.” She turned to face the stairs and cupped her hands around her mouth. “MANIC! Is Sonic fucking done or what?”

“Yeah yeah, give me a fucking second, princess!” her brother hollered back.

“Language, both of you!” Shadow did his best to stifle a chuckle at the sound of Aleena scolding her two kids. Sonia just rolled her eyes and looked back at Shadow.

“He’ll just be a fucking second,” she said sweetly.

“Awesome.” She didn’t leave her position in the doorway, so Shadow tried to make small talk. “Uh, I like your hair.”

Sonia smiled, absentmindedly playing with it a bit. “Thanks. Curled it this morning.” Her bright pink hair was out of her ponytail, bouncing slightly on her shoulders. Since he gained red that day at the hospital with Sonic, every time he saw it he was filled with a little more joy. He was more content now with gaining colors than he had in the past, but there was something about red. It wasn’t particularly pleasing to look at, in his opinion, but it allowed him to see pink, which he did enjoy. And a color was a color, meaning Sonic had fallen a little more in love with him. So Shadow was going to enjoy it.

“I like your outfit. You clean up real nice.” Shadow smiled and looked down at what he was wearing. He’d gone for a simple dark brown sweater vest overtop a nice white short sleeve collared shirt, his favorite black skirt over black shorts, and had settled on his dark gray sneakers in case Sonic felt like indulging him in one of their favorite pastimes: running. He felt a little overdressed, especially compared to his low expectations for Sonic, but at least hoped Sonic would like the way Shadow had dressed for him.

“Thanks,” he said in reply to her compliment. His brain rummaged through all the “keeping conversations going” folders he could, but kept coming up empty.

“Oh, well if it isn’t the man of the hour,” Sonia chirped. Descending the stairs that were partially obscured by the ajar door was none other than Sonic, accompanied by his annoyed looking brother. Sonic was wearing a baby blue button up, long gray shorts, and of course his red sneakers. His hair was done in a braided ponytail behind his head, and it looked like he was wearing some makeup as well. Nothing fancy, just eyeliner and concealer, and there might have been a bit of a shine to his lips.

“You look nice,” Shadow said honestly.

“Thanks,” Sonic replied. “You don’t look half bad yourself.”

“Yeah, I’ve been told I clean up nice.” Sonia gave him a side eye and a thumbs up. “I like what you did with your hair.”

_“Thank_ you,” Sonia and Manic said in unison. Sonic rolled his eyes.

“Sonia insisted on it, and Manic insisted on doing it.”

“And it looks good, no?” Manic challenged. “At least _someone_ around here appreciates my expertise,” he added, giving Shadow a friendly punch on the shoulder.

Sonic sighed and elbowed his brother. “Should we be going, Shads?”

“Fine by me.” Sonic grabbed his date by the arm and, with one last annoyed look at his siblings, stepped out onto the porch with Shadow and closed the front door behind him.

“Sorry about those two. Siblings, you know?”

Shadow chuckled. “Don’t I ever. But hey, if they helped you look this good then I’m all for it.” The shy smile that appeared on Sonic’s face made Shadow’s heart feel light and buzzy. Damn, this date was going to be hard to get through coolly.

“So, what did you have planned?”

Sonic’s face lit up. “You’ll love it.” He glanced down at Shadow’s feet. “I see you wore your running shoes. How lucky for you.”

“Oh, is it now?” he asked with an eyebrow raise. Sonic nodded.

“Yup. I was just thinking we could have a nice little run to the Dairy Queen two blocks away. Then pop in and get some dinner and Blizzards. You in?”

Shadow fought back a smile. It was simple, yet very them. They went to Dairy Queen plenty of times with their friends, but never just the two of them. And they were going to race there. Sure, Sonic said run, but they both knew a “run” between the two of them was a race by now. And a little friendly competition never hurt anyone. He just hoped Sonic would accept his defeat with grace and dignity.

“All right, I’m in.”

Sonic grinned. “Then let’s go, slowpoke.”

The two set up on the sidewalk. Sonic counted down from three and they were off like rockets. At first Shadow tried bumping into Sonic to try and get an edge in passing him, but that didn’t deter his rival, so he just focused straight ahead, on the movement of his legs and the evenness of his breaths.

They continued for the two blocks, thankfully never having to cross a street until they finally reached the Dairy Queen. It was right in sight, but Sonic was in the corner of his vision, growing ever closer until-

_WHAM!_

Sonic skidded past him and slammed a hand down on the closest outside table a mere second before Shadow got there.

“Ha ha! The ever elusive Sonic Boom is victorious once again!” he hollered, punching a fist in the air. Shadow couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the cute blue idiot.

“You got lucky, Faker,” he insisted, crossing his arms.

“Oh contraire, mon amy,” Sonic said in a terrible french accent. “But, it’s not like it matters that much. Ice cream is on the loser, so double win for me!”

Shadow laughed. “I was going to buy you ice cream anyway.” Sonic’s bravado slowly disappeared into a genuine smile.

“Aw, really? You were going to get ice cream for little old me?” He batted his eyelashes fervently and Shadow resisted the urge to playfully swat him.

“Hurry up and get inside before I change my mind,” he growled, but Sonic didn’t seem threatened. They’d known each other enough to play off each other’s extraneous personalities, it was just how they were by now.

Sonic ordered a chili cheese dog and a side of tater tots, while Shadow got chicken strips and a side of fries (and glared in annoyance when Sonic referenced a vine Shadow had heard once or twice as he placed his order). Shadow snatched Sonic’s wallet from him when he tried to pay for his own food, sticking it in his pocket and paying for both meals himself despite the boy’s protests. He had a job, he could afford to buy his soulmate dinner on their date.

The two sat at their table talking for an hour, only occasionally grabbing bites of their food when the other person was telling a story, or giving a long explanation of something. Shadow was pleasantly surprised at how normal it felt to hang out with Sonic like this, like they’d been friends their whole lives, like this was just another Saturday evening for the two of them. At one point Shadow’s hand was resting on the table, and Sonic placed his on top, blurring the line between something so friendly and intimate, that it made Shadow’s breath catch in his throat. But he didn’t pull away, instead just smiling softly at the boy across from him.

They ordered Blizzards once they finished their meal, Shadow once again paying. Shadow ordered a simple Oreo Blizzard, while Sonic opted for the “fancier” (his words) Royal New York Cheesecake Blizzard. It apparently had a strawberry filling, which did, admittedly, sound pretty good. This time they tried to finish their food quickly, in order to get home before it was too dark, and they succeeded, both finishing their desserts in under thirty minutes.

The sun was beginning to set, and since they’d just had a full meal, Shadow insisted on walking Sonic home instead of the two of them racing again.

“Why? Afraid you’ll lose three times in one evening?” Sonic teased.

Shadow raised an eyebrow. “Three? You only raced me once.”

“That’s what you think, genius boy. But when you suggested we finish our Blizzards quickly, I was secretly racing you to finish mine first, which I did!”

“Unbelievable. Everything is a damn competition to you. Next you’re going to tell me that you ‘won’ our date because you had more fun on it than me.”

Sonic’s cocky smile faltered, and he tripped the slightest bit with his next step. Shadow looked at him curiously. “What?”

“You didn’t have fun?” Sonic asked nervously. Of course. Sonic had planned everything, had clearly wanted them both to enjoy spending time together, because they were finally getting along, and Sonic clearly wanted to move past just being friends. And honestly, Shadow did too.

“I actually had a good time,” Shadow admitted. “Maybe you don’t suck as a soulmate after all.”

Sonic laughed. “Is that the closest I’m going to get as a compliment from you?”

Shadow thought for a moment. “No,” he admitted. “You wanna know how I really feel?”

“Preferably, yes.”

“Okay.” He took another moment to gather his thoughts. He was going to do it, to tell Sonic exactly how he felt. He just had to make sure he didn’t go overboard to the point he scared Sonic off, but he didn’t want to be so reserved that he wasn’t completely honest. “I used to despise you,” he began.

“What a way to set up a compliment, Shads,” Sonic said with another laugh.

Shadow rolled his eyes. “Let me _finish_ , faker.” Sonic obediently shut his mouth, eyes looking intensely at Shadow. “Like I said, I used to not like you. You were pretty much the bane of my existence. But after a while, you slowly made your way into my life, whether I liked it or not. And after a while, you became less of a nuisance, and more of a welcome presence. More of a real…friend. And I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful for _you_.”

Wow. That was…a little more than he’d intended to say. And yet, at the same time, a little less. He was happy that he and Sonic were friends, but they’d just gone on a _date_ . Did that mean they were _together?_ Did Shadow even want to be Sonic’s partner?

Yes. His heart betrayed his rational thinking with the way it hammered in his chest. Yes, he wanted to be with Sonic. Maybe that was just his heart telling him that Sonic was his soulmate, so of course he should want to be with the boy in front of him. The dorky, loud, annoying, funny, sweet, cute boy in front of him. As ridiculous as it was, Shadow wanted to be with him.

They’d stopped walking. Shadow didn’t remember when that happened, but he and Sonic were standing in front of each other. Their faces were awfully close. Sonic’s lips were slightly parted, his eyes wide and containing that same shine from earlier.

“Wow, Shads,” Sonic breathed. “That’s…wow.”

“Speechless, huh?” Shadow chuckled and shook his head. “I apologize if I was too forward-”

“No, not at all!” he insisted. “I mean, I just wasn’t expecting that from you.”

“Yeah.” He kicked the ground nervously. “I’ve kinda wanted to tell you that for a while. But, it’s not exactly something you say over the phone.”

“Uh huh…the phone!” Sonic smacked his forehead. “I meant to take a selfie of us at some point, but I totally forgot. Ugh, I’m dumb.”

“No, you just forgot. Simple mistake.”

“Yeah yeah, make me feel better some other time.”

Shadow rolled his eyes at his dramatic friend. “How about we just take one now?”

Sonic looked at the area around them like it was disgusting. “Here? Walking down the sidewalk of my street?”

“Sure. Better than nothing, right?” Sonic grumbled something unintelligible and took his phone out from his pocket.

“Here, smile!” Shadow threw an arm around Sonic’s shoulders, and Sonic held up a peace sign with his free hand, flashing a bright smile at the camera. Shadow’s eyes stayed on Sonic, on the happy look in his eyes, his wide smile, the cute dimple in his cheek…Shadow gave in to temptation and pressed his lips to Sonic’s cheek just as the speedster took the photo.

Sonic immediately tensed up beneath Shadow’s touch, his arm holding the phone dropping to his side as he turned to look in surprise at Shadow. Shadow removed his arm from around Sonic’s shoulders, panicking for a moment, wondering if he’d gone too far. Sonic’s gaze flickered down to Shadow’s lips. _Kiss me,_ he thought. _I reached out to you, please meet me halfway. Kiss me back._

Sonic blinked rapidly as if coming out of a trance, “Uh, let’s see how the picture came out,” he stuttered, holding up his phone in front of his face.

“Yeah, of course.” The picture looked really sweet, Sonic had taken it just before he realized Shadow had kissed him, so he still had the cute smile on his face. Shadow’s eyes were closed and his lips were pressed to Sonic’s cheek. They were illuminated by the bright orange sunset. They looked so soft and happy.

“Hey, it turned out pretty good,” Shadow continued. “The lighting is really…Sonic?” The boy had just been staring at the photo the whole time, silent and unmoving, and only now had Shadow noticed the tears welling up in his eyes. “Sonic? What’s wrong?” Shit, had Shadow totally messed up with the cheek kiss? He’d been so into the moment and had just meant to-

“My eyes,” he whispered. Shadow just stared, confused. His eyes? Was he upset about how they looked in the picture? They looked normal, as far as Shadow could see.

“What about them?” he asked when Sonic didn’t elaborate further.

“They’re green.” They were? Well, it’s not like Shadow would know, all he saw when he looked into Sonic’s eyes was boring gray. “I can see green again. It’s been so long.”

Shadow froze. “Sonic-”

“You gave me green,” he whispered, clutching the phone tightly in his hands. “It’s my favorite.” He glanced around them, at the grass on either side of the sidewalk, the trees and bushes in people’s yards, and back at the phone, before his teary eyes looked up at Shadow again. “Thank you, Shadow.” Sonic’s voice cracked a little, his smile incredibly big before grabbing Shadow by the waist and pulling him into a hug. Shadow flinched, not used to sudden intense physical affection, but politely hugged him back.

“Er, you’re welcome, I guess.” They broke apart, their faces mere inches from each other. Shadow felt a shift in the air. His eyes flickered down to Sonic’s lips.

_Kiss me,_ he silently willed.

Sonic pulled back and coughed into his hand. “Well, this is me.” Shadow raised a confused eyebrow before turning to see what Sonic was looking at just over his shoulder. Oh. They were right about at Sonic’s house. Shadow had promised to walk him home, and, well, here they were.

“Yeah, it is,” he said with a sigh. The moment gone, he took Sonic’s hand in his and walked with him to the doorstep. He expected Sonic to just open the door and leave. Maybe he’d get that kiss another time.

Sonic bit his lip and tapped his foot fervently. He was nervous? Why? Their date was over, they seemed to both have fun, and Sonic had even gained a color. Sometimes Shadow wished he could read minds, it would make interacting with mysteries such as Sonic so much more-

His thoughts were interrupted as Sonic suddenly leaned forward and gave a quick kiss to Shadow’s cheek.

The dark haired boy froze, his mouth falling slightly open in surprise. “I-uh…” Shadow was truly speechless.

Sonic had already pulled back, sporting a sheepish grin as he fiddled with his key in the front door lock. With a twist and a click it opened. “See ya, Shads,” Sonic said, rushing into the house and shutting the door.

Shadow just stood on the doorstep, blinking stupidly and breathing slightly heavily. His soulmate was just one surprise after another, wasn’t he?

He finally recovered from his stupor and relaxed, smiling fondly at the shut door. “Till next time, Sonic,” he murmured, stepping off the doorstep and walking away with a spring in his step.

* * *

Their end of senior year class trip was camping, because of course it was. They weren’t exactly roughing it, but they weren’t glamping either. They had set up tents by themselves, they’d be sleeping in sleeping bags, their lunch had been hot dogs roasted over a small fire they had to start on their own, though thankfully Shadow brought a lighter, which Sonic was so grateful for he didn’t ask any questions about it. Shadow was in his group, as were Knuckles, Tails, Omega, and Manic. The groups were people forced to share a tent, and thankfully the students were allowed to put in requests as to who was in their group, which gave Sonic his best friends, his brother, and his…Shadow. Whatever they were now.

The first day of their long weekend trip had been eventful. They’d set up camp, gone for a hike in the woods, and attempted some fishing in the nearby lake. It was just for the practice, Ms. Tikal had to remind them, when Vector pulled out a well-sized catfish and suggested they cook that for dinner. He wasn’t too happy about throwing it back into the lake.

Day two, aka today, was interesting. They’d gone canoeing, biking, done another hike where they searched for edible berries, which almost got them in trouble again when Manic dared Knuckles to pop some unfamiliar berries in his mouth without knowing what they were. Thankfully, they weren’t poisonous, they just tasted gross, but their lack of caution got the whole group a talking to by Mr. Gadget. Ugh. Teachers as chaperones were bad enough, yet for some reason math teachers were always the most prickly.

That evening, the whole grade had gathered in the large field near their campsite around a large campfire. Students took turns roasting marshmallows, some people who brought guitars or ukuleles played songs for others to sing along, and the only issue that arose was when one kid dared his friend to stick his hand in the fire before shoving him closer to the flames, which resulted in lots of yelling from other people, students and staff alike, and eventually the two students being separated from the group, being watched over by Dr. Robotnik.

During the commotion, Sonic noticed someone in his group had slipped away. Shadow, of course. Who else? No one else seemed to have noticed the boy’s absence, so Sonic did his best to remain quiet, and slowly stepped back until he was gone from the main group, hidden in the surrounding trees.

A conversation from their canoe trip that day played in his mind.

_“The lake is really pretty.”_

_“Eh. It’s mostly brown. Though I guess the sky reflected in it is nice.”_

_“Oh, sure, rub your ability to see a dark shade of orange in my face.”_

_“Blame yourself for having feelings for me.”_

_“I-shut up, Shads.”_

_“Okay, darling.”_

_“I mean it. When we get on our canoe I will push you over the side.”_

_“Then I’m grabbing you by the hand and taking you down with me.”_

_“Challenge accepted.”_

_Laughter, followed by silence._

_“For real, though. It is pretty, especially without your gross brown, however that looks.”_

_“It’s really reflective of the trees and clouds. It’s like a giant mirror.”_

_“Yeah, it is. Imagine what it’d look like at night. All the stars reflected in the lake.”_

_“Do you want to see it?”_

_“What?”_

_“See the lake at night. With me.”_

_“I…”_

_“Do you?”_

_“…”_

_“…”_

_“Sure, Shads.”_

_“I’ll meet you down there some time tonight.”_

_“It’s a date.”_

A date. Sonic had expected nervousness, hesitation, really any uncertain negative reaction from Shadow at the words, even after their last date, but all he got was a nod of acknowledgement before they were boarding their canoes and casting off into the lake. It hadn’t been mentioned the rest of the day, and Sonic was starting to worry that Shadow had forgotten until he slipped away during the campfire. Well, Sonic thought as he trudged through the woods as quietly as he could, time to see if Shadow kept his word.

It felt like ages walking through the pitch black woods, looking for the lake, and more importantly, for Shadow. When he finally heard the sound of quiet lapping waves he broke out into a run, not caring about the branches that snapped and broke under his feet, until he broke through the treeline and was face to face with the docks they’d been at earlier, where their promise was made. Sitting on the end of the short wooden boardwalk was Sonic’s favorite dark-haired rival, his back still to Sonic despite all the noise that had been made just moments ago.

The blue haired boy took a deep breath, sighed, and walked over, focusing on Shadow instead of the fear that was seeping in due to being so close to water. _Come on, Sonic, you were in a boat on the water earlier, no matter how scary it was, you did it. You’ll be okay._ He kicked off his shoes and socks where the ground met the dock, leaving them right next to Shadow’s skates.

“Glad you could make it,” Shadow said quietly as Sonic approached, still not turning around to face him.

“Wouldn’t have missed this for all the s’mores in the world.” Sonic took a seat next to Shadow, careful to pull his knees up to his chest so his feet weren’t in the water like Shadow’s. Looks like he took off his socks and shoes before he did so, though. Clever boy. “The lake does look beautiful with all the stars reflected in it.”

It did. The sky was dark gray, almost black, and the hundreds of stars that dotted the sky that he could see stretching on to infinity were gorgeous, especially reflected in the sparkling, rippling water.

Sonic dangled his hand off the side and cautiously stuck a finger in the water and swirled his finger around, enjoying the little ripples it made. He glanced up at Shadow and saw the other looking back at him, softly. When Shadow realized he’d been caught, he turned away and stared up at the sky. “Hey, now that we’re friends…” Sonic started nervously. ”…can I ask you something?”

Crimson eyes stayed glued to the night sky. “Shoot.”

“Why were you so against soulmates to begin with?” His fingers nervously swirled around more quickly in the water. Shadow’s eyes remained glued to the stars.

It felt like an hour had passed before he finally answered. “It had nothing to do with you, if that’s what you’re worried about. It all stemmed from me.” Sonic nodded seriously, bringing his hand out of the water to show Shadow he was paying attention. “My dad and Gerald both had soulmates, but things didn’t work out. They were never happy with theirs, and instead later found each other. They’re happy now, but because of their lost relationships, they can only each see one color. They say it’s okay, that what’s important is being with who you love, but it still just seems like a shame.” Shadow paused and let out a sigh. Sonic was tempted to reach out a hand to rub his friend’s shoulder, to comfort him in any way, but he held himself back. Shadow continued. “My sister can’t see any color at all. She doesn’t have a soulmate. It felt…unfair to her, that I was to have one when she didn’t. I felt guilty for something out of my control. For a long time in my life, all that really mattered to me was Maria.”

“That must suck. Being the only one in your family to get a chance to gain colors. My mom lost all of hers when she separated from her soulmate. That honestly made me want to get mine even more.” Sonic inwardly cringed, realizing he’d started talking about himself just as Shadow was opening up to him. “Sorry. Your sister?”

“She was all I had.” Shadow picked up as if Sonic hadn’t said anything. “I had no friends, I didn’t do much in my life for a while until I picked up roller skating. And I didn’t have a friend until I met Rouge.” He smiled softly saying her name. Sonic understood, she was to Shadow like Tails was to him. “The last thing I _wanted_ was a soulmate.” Sonic frowned, remembering that time in their lives when they’d been at each other’s throats. He hated thinking about the fights, how much they hurt him, emotionally more than physically, especially after the one that made him lose most of his colors. “But maybe…you were just what I needed.” Shadow just looked fondly at the lake in front of them, and Sonic finally gave into temptation, reaching out and placing a comforting hand on his soulmate’s shoulder. The other looked back at him, a genuine smile on his face that made Sonic’s breath catch in his throat.

“I’m happy to be here for you,” he whispered sincerely. “Whatever you need.”

“Thanks, Faker.” Shadow used the nickname they’d adapted for each other what felt like ages ago, but there was no malice behind it. And his eyes. Sonic was grateful he could see red, because it allowed him to see especially well just how softly Shadow was looking at him.

It made his heart flutter in his chest.

“What about you?” Shadow’s voice snapped Sonic back to reality, his hand instinctively pulling away from the boy’s shoulder. Sonic immediately missed the contact. “We’ve had some rough times, any soulmate stuff you’ve kept from me?”

“Not really,” Sonic lied. He traced the surface of the lake with his finger. “Well, one, but it’s kind of stupid. And it doesn’t matter now anyway.”

“Sonic.” The blue boy tried to ignore the way the serious tone Shadow used when saying his name made him feel. It was…distracting, to say the least. Unfortunately, his tensing up did not go unnoticed by his soulmate, whose tone quickly changed to one more smooth and sweet. “Come on, I won’t force you to tell me anything you don’t want to say, but I’d like to know you can talk to me, as a friend.” Sonic still remained silent. “‘Friends first,’ right?” Damn Shadow, using Sonic’s own “tearing down walls” method against him.

“All right.” Sonic uncrossed his legs and stretched them out, moving ever so slightly closer to Shadow. His bare feet landed in the cold water with a small splash, that felt both soothing, and also made him hyper-aware of his senses, because _yikes_ was that freezing. _Focus, Sonic._ “Knowing that my soulmate was a guy was…a little scary. I knew I was gay, but I was worried that wasn’t how other people would see it.” His feet dangled in the water, swirling around slowly so he wouldn’t splash Shadow or himself. He took a deep breath and continued. “I was worried that people would think I was…a straight girl. That I was just faking it.” Shadow remained silent, and Sonic didn’t dare risk looking at him, worried he wouldn’t be able to get it all out. “Luckily, no one did. It was mostly an internal fear. But still, it stunk.”

“Sonic, I’m…”

“You’re what, sorry?” He let out a light laugh and pulled his feet out of the water since it was starting to get freezing. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

“I still am.”

Well damn. That both hurt and felt nice in a way Sonic hadn’t expected. “Thanks, I guess.” He gently shook his feet to get the water off and pulled up his legs, sitting criss cross. Looking up from the dark swirling waters at his soulmate, he spoke again. “You’re a good friend, Shadow.”

“Thank you.” It sounded almost automatic, and Sonic saw a brief change in Shadow’s expression after the words left his mouth. “You’re a good friend too. And more.” Sonic’s heart was pounding like crazy in his chest. “I…I like you, Sonic.”

Somehow, in spite of the tangled mess that was his brain and the tight feeling in his chest, he was able to get the next four words out. “I like you too.”

And as those words passed his lips, the world around him shifted. The sky reflected in the dark lake had color and Sonic did his best to remain calm in the face of evidence that his soulmate had meant the words he said.

Shadow’s gaze was focused on the sky above, crimson eyes wide with surprise. Sonic couldn’t help but smile softly at his cute awestruck soulmate.

Eyes never leaving the stars, Shadow spoke again. “What’s the name of that color that’s like, deeper than blue, but kind of leans towards-”

“Indigo.” Shadow’s gaze tore away from the sky and he looked back at Sonic. “I can see it too,” he whispered, cautiously placing a hand on top of his rival’s.

His friend’s.

His soulmate’s.

And then there was a hand on his cheek and he was suddenly face to face with Shadow. Sonic felt lost in the swirl of bright red eyes. He watched Shadow lean in ever so slightly and soon Sonic was following. Both their eyes fluttered shut and he felt Shadow's lips pressed onto his. Chaos, Shadow was kissing him. Shadow was kissing him and his lips were so soft and warm and it was the best feeling in the world. Shadow’s hands held him tight and close. Sonic had been wanting that closeness his whole life. His heart raced in his chest and he felt warmth blossom under his skin. Shadow’s lips fit so perfectly against his own that it left him breathless. No, literally. He had to force himself to pull away to breathe. With a deep breath and a sigh, his eyes fell back on Shadow.

“Oh my gosh, I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” Shadow said with a laugh. An actual laugh, not a soft chuckle or a grunt, a genuine laugh of relief. Sonic couldn’t help the stupid excited grin that overtook his face, even when Shadow gave him a curious look.

“Me too,” he confessed, gently grabbing the collar of Shadow’s sweatshirt. “Can I do it again?”

“Please,” Shadow sighed, already grabbing Sonic’s face and connecting their lips once more.

* * *

Summer was a whirl of everything and nothing for Shadow. It consisted of hanging out with friends one last time before splitting off for a while to come, finalizing paperwork for college, saying goodbye to his hometown, and hanging out a _lot_ more with Sonic. Ever since their confessions and subsequent kiss by the lakeside, which sadly got interrupted by Ms. Tikal who’d noticed them slipping away, the two boys had become more comfortable and open with each other. They went on a few more dates, hung out along with their friends, and made arrangements to be roommates in college since they were attending the same university. Shadow was majoring in biology with a minor in physiology, and Sonic was majoring in English. A math gay and an English gay. How perfectly they complimented each other, in the stupidest possible ways.

School started and things got even faster. Classes were a blur, just endless notes, work, lectures. Voices droning on and on, Shadow struggling to sit still in class but reluctantly doing so all the same. Assignments and studying were constant, and Shadow sometimes barely had enough time to eat, let alone have fun. He’d probably have gone mad from all the work he was doing if it weren’t for Sonic.

Sonic wasn’t totally laid back, he still did his work as best he could, but his classes weren’t nearly as difficult and he had plenty more free time that he attempted to share with Shadow. Sonic couldn’t cook, but he’d order or pick up food if he noticed Shadow was really busy, or if he was hungry too, or if he just felt like spoiling him. Sonic also made sure to get Shadow away from his desk, even if it was just for an hour. After a couple weeks they fell into a system of how much work they’d both do for school and how often they’d make time for each other.

One of Shadow’s favorite unwinding activities was Sonic playing music for him. The student had brought his guitar and ukulele to university, and was working on learning a couple of songs. Shadow was always willing to hear his roommate’s sweet voice as he sang, it was one of his favorite melodies.

Sonic seemed to just enjoy spending time with Shadow; he was very affectionate and often just wanted some time to hang out and watch tv, or cuddle in one of their bedrooms..

They were cuddling in Sonic’s bedroom one evening, both quietly full of their own thoughts, when Sonic decided to ask a question.

“Hey, Shadow?”

“Yeah?”

A hesitant pause. “What are we?”

Shadow’s hand, which had been absentmindedly running up and down Sonic’s back, froze. He’d been dodging that question for a while. They both had. Sure, they went on dates, hung out all the time, kissed often, and had recently gotten a little more…intimate. But they’d never officially put a label on what they were, and at this point Shadow was a little too worried to ask.

In response to Sonic’s question, he settled on, “We’re soulmates.”

Sonic rolled his eyes. “I know that. I know that, objectively, in the grand scheme of things, that’s what we are.” Sonic’s hand left ghostly touches on Shadow’s hip as he looked his soulmate in the eyes. “But at this moment, right now, what are we?”

This was too much thinking for eight o clock on a friday, especially when they’d been cuddling for so long they missed their typical dinner time. Shadow could never think straight on an empty stomach. “What would you like us to be?” he asked instead. He felt Sonic tense up beneath his touch. Shit, maybe that was the wrong thing to say.

After an infinitely long pause, Sonic finally sighed, his head resting just below Shadow’s on the boy’s chest. “I don’t know.”

Shadow couldn’t hide the amusement in his voice. “You don’t know? All the time I’ve known you, you’re the one that’s been pushing for a label. Soulmates, rivals, friends, and now that I finally ask you, you ‘don’t know’?”

“I don’t!” Sonic laughed, but it had a clearly nervous edge to it. “I mean, we’re finally friends, but I also really like you, and ever since we had that one moment on the docks that senior trip where…” He trailed off.

“We kissed?” Shadow finished with an eyebrow raise.

Sonic laughed again. “Yeah. That.” Shadow resisted letting out an “aw,” allowing his nervous friend to continue. “I really liked it. It made me realize just how much I like _you_. Throughout this whole college thing, I’ve been stressed the hell out. And I feel like everyone expects me to be happy and laid back all the time, but in reality it feels like I’m running in circles, and not in the good way. Like I’m stuck in a race with no finish line. And the only person I’m racing is myself.” He gave a sheepish smile. “Sorry, we’ve been talking about metaphors in seminar this week. Anyway, you. Right. I don’t want to rush into something with you that you don’t want. But I do kinda wanna be more than friends. Because you mean more to me than something as simple as that”

Huh. That was a lot to take in. Especially all the nonsensical rambling, though that Shadow was used to by now. He tried to ignore the heat in his cheeks that appeared from Sonic’s confession. “We are more than friends,” he said.

Sonic cocked his head and looked at Shadow suspiciously. “We are?”

“We’re soulmates.” Sonic groaned, but received a playful swat on the arm and a look that said “let me finish.” He looked back at Shadow expectantly, who continued. “We’re two people who have been through a lot over a short period of time. We’re _good_ friends. And, correct me if I’m wrong, we’re also two people who have feelings for each other.” The blue haired boy bit his lip and his gaze dropped, a faint dust of pink clear on his cheeks. Shadow wasn’t wrong. “If this was your way of asking me to be your boyfriend…” Sonic’s head snapped up, his bright shining gray eyes inches from Shadow’s. “The answer is yes.”

Sonic’s expression lit up, his lips became a hopeful smile. “Really?”

“If that is what you want.”

“Of course it is!” His hopeful smile faltered slightly. “If that’s also-”

“It’s also what I want, don’t worry.” Sonic’s little happy squeal was fucking adorable, and Shadow couldn’t resist squeezing his boyfriend tighter and nuzzling his nose. Sonic grabbed his face and pulled him into a sweet kiss. The pair lay there, the rest of the world forgotten, just holding each other, giving each other kisses and gentle touches, getting punch drunk off love.

After a while, Shadow broke away and looked down at what Sonic was wearing. “Is…that my sweatshirt?” he asked, trying not to laugh.

Sonic huffed. “Aw man! I was hoping you wouldn’t notice, since it’s purple.”

_I didn’t. Not until just now,_ he thought. But he just scoffed. “Surely you don’t take me for some kind of fool, do you, Mr. Boom?”

“Not at all, Mr. Doom.” Shadow rolled his eyes at Sonic’s chuckle, the boy found their rhyming last names so funny for some reason. He glanced at the clock on Sonic’s nightside table.

“We should get something to eat. It’s getting late.” He tried to pull away but Sonic hugged him tighter, holding him in place.

“Wait, please, just five more minutes?” He stuck out his bottom lip and gave Shadow puppy dog eyes. Damn it all, he was too cute to resist.

Shadow sighed. “Fine, five more minutes.”

“Yes!” He snuggled up more into Shadow’s chest.

“Okay, clingy boy.”

“Oh hush, you love it.”

He gave a kiss to the top of Sonic’s head, loving the soft hum that followed. “Yeah, I do.”

The pair ended up falling asleep there in each others’ arms, legs tangled together, hearts beating in sync, alone together. It was the best sleep either of them had gotten in a long time.

* * *

Summer break. Sophomore year of college had been hell on them both. Sonic had almost failed two classes, he’d twisted his ankle and had to sit out of track and running altogether for a while, and he’d broken his laptop which didn’t make getting school work done any easier. Shadow had it rough too, his classes weren’t too bad, but Maria had some more “complications” more frequently, so he was constantly stressed about her with very little outlet, and his difficult classes on top of a part time job he took to help pay for tuition meant he barely had any free time and was prone to snapping.

But that was this year. Sonic’s ankle had healed and he finally got his laptop fixed, and just barely scraping by with low C’s in both his almost failed subjects, Shadow had passed his classes just fine, and Maria was slowly on the up and up as of recently, so both boys finally had a chance to breathe.

They were back home for the summer, visiting family to catch up, and Sonic for one couldn’t be happier. He’d forgotten how much he loved this town, he’d missed his siblings far too much, and for once he was willing to take things slow. And it seemed Shadow was too.

This evening they’d had dinner at the Boom residence, Sonic brought Shadow and Sonia had brought Knuckles. Tails had also received an honorary invite from Aleena, though he couldn’t bring Cosmo. The two had finally met up over spring break this year, and Tails was over the moon when he hugged her for the first time and saw blue in addition to the green, red, and yellow he already saw.

With dinner finished up, Sonia and Knuckles lounging in the living room and Tails helping Aleena clean up the dishes, Shadow told Sonic he wanted to take a walk. The way he said it, with a little bit of a serious edge, had Sonic’s nerves shot, but he just smiled and said sure.

“Bye mom, we’ll be back soon!” Sonic hollered by the front door, already putting on his sneakers.

“You better! Manic said he was dropping by for movie night!” she responded from the kitchen.

Shadow all but pulled Sonic outside once the speedster had tugged on his sneakers. Sonic chuckled. “Eager today, are we, Shads?”

Shadow ignored the light jab. “Wanna race?” he asked.

Sonic beamed. “Always. Isn’t that kind of our thing now?”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

“Well then let’s do it. Where are we going?” Shadow stroked his chin like he was thinking, but Sonic knew better, he knew that his boyfriend was just stalling to be dramatic.

“How about…002 ARK Drive.”

Sonic raised an eyebrow. “Your childhood home? Why?”

“Why not?” Sonic couldn’t argue with that logic.

“Well then let’s get a move on, Faker.” And with that he got a head start as he took off, leaving Shadow a few stumbling seconds behind.

There was something beautifully nostalgic about running through his old neighborhood. Maybe it was the triumph he felt in the light of the setting sun. Maybe it was the coolness of the wind blowing through his hair, that he’d finally cut short instead of his long ponytail from his high school days. Maybe it was the familiar ache in his legs and burn in his lungs as he put one foot in front of the other, eyes straight ahead to the horizon, so it almost felt like he was flying.

Sonic was so lost in his own head that he nearly missed the turn onto Shadow’s street. Nearly. He grabbed onto the street sign with one hand and flung himself around the corner, never breaking stride. Running down here gave him flashbacks to a certain time he’d run down this street in high school, when he’d run to Shadow’s to comfort him as a friend going through a rough time. When he’d gained violet. He almost laughed to himself as he recalled how both of them woke up at 8 am, a full hour late for the bus. Sonic had panicked, but Shadow easily calmed him down, insisting that missing one day of school wouldn’t kill them. Instead they’d stayed at Shadow’s and hung out all day, playing video games like Animal Crossing and Overwatch. Sonic hadn’t been a fan of Shadow’s Winston impression, but it was funny nonetheless.

Looking back on it, that evening and following day was probably when Sonic first started to truly fall in love with Shadow.

He saw the house, just a few steps away, and could barely hear Shadow’s footsteps anywhere behind him, so he pushed himself the slightest bit more and succeeded at hitting the mailbox as he skidded to a stop. He turned around and saw Shadow just gently tapping the mailbox as he approached it, jogging to a stop instead of skidding against the ground.

“Ha ha! You lost! You lose, loser!” Sonic taunted.

Shadow scowled, but his eyes were playful. “Just barely.”

“Aw come on, I had you beat by at least three seconds and you know it. That’s like. Minutes in running time.”

“It _really_ isn’t.” The pair both glared at each other with twin smiles on their faces.

“Whatever,” Sonic dismissed with a hand wave. “Anyways, Mr. Doom! How does it feel to lose to the incredible Sonic Boom, your long-time rival whose guts you can’t stand.” Sonic pretended to hold out a microphone to Shadow.

“Honestly?”

“Preferably, yes.”

Shadow grinned. “It feels great.”

“What?”

“It does. Wanna know why, Mr. Sonic Boom?” He tilted Sonic’s hand so Sonic was pointing the microphone at himself.

“Yeah, I guess. Can’t imagine losing all the time is fun.”

“It isn’t fun. Not really. But it’s worth it.” Sonic furrowed his brow, not exactly understanding what Shadow was saying. He chuckled and took Sonic’s microphone hand in his own. “Seeing your smile makes every second I’m behind you completely worth it.”

Sonic sighed, and opened his mouth to say something when the world somehow shifted. Nothing had actually gained color, but everything looked brighter. Warmer. He looked up at the sky again, and saw something different in the horizon. It wasn’t just a few sunbeams of yellow and a slightly purple sky, he saw all of it. All of the colors were revealed to him because he could see orange.

Orange. His final color.

“Shads…”

“Come on.” Shadow gently tugged on Sonic’s hand, leading him further down the street. “We’ve got somewhere else to go.”

* * *

“Can I look yet?”

Shadow rolled his eyes as he continued leading Sonic through the side parking lot. “I never said you had to cover your eyes,” he argued.

“Yeah, but you said it was a surprise. And surprises are better when you can’t see them coming.” Sonic stubbornly refused to remove his one hand from his face, while being blindly led by Shadow with the other. They were almost there, thank goodness. Shadow was glad he hadn’t told Sonic that there was a surprise before their run to his house, he would have been just as insufferable then too.

“All right, we’re here,” he said as the two stepped into the grass. “You can look now, weirdo.”

Sonic uncovered his eyes, his cocky smile fading into surprise. “The playground. Where we first met.”

“Yeah.” Shadow sat down in the grass. “Crazy, the passage of time, huh? How much has changed in a decade. How much _we’ve_ changed in a decade.”

Sonic sat down beside him. “It certainly brings back memories.”

“If you’d told me, that morning, I’d meet the guy who was my soulmate, and actually end up _liking_ him, I’d have told you to eat shit.” The two laughed.

“Well, you didn’t like me. Not at first,” Sonic pointed out.

“Yeah. You didn’t make it easy, especially with your first impression, running up and trying to fight me like that.” Sonic mock gasped, shoving Shadow in the arm as he just laughed. The memories that came back weren’t the most pleasant, but they still brought on a small wave of nostalgia. Back when things were simpler.

“Hey, if you couldn’t fight, we probably weren’t destined to be together anyway.”

“Yeah.” Shadow turned to smile at Sonic. “But now I’d appreciate nothing more than to fight by your side, instead of fighting you.”

Sonic put a hand over his heart, touched. “Shads, that’s so sweet.”

“You make me like this, Boom,” he whispered, leaning closer to Sonic and staring lovingly into his eyes.

“You know you love it, Doom,” Sonic responded teasingly, green eyes glancing down at Shadow’s lips.

Green.

Shadow just stared, trying to keep calm because holy shit he could finally see the beauty of Sonic’s emerald green eyes. Green. His final color.

He had them all and that meant Sonic loved him and oh chaos he loved Sonic back so much and he was just hoping that Sonic knew that.

Trying to hide his panic, he looked down at the ground, awed at the vibrancy of the grass. He just couldn’t keep his gaze away from his soulmate, and all too quickly he was looking back at Sonic again, finally seeing the look on the boy’s face and the softness in his eyes.

He knew.

The green eyed beauty broke their gaze to glance at the sky.

“The sunset sure is gorgeous tonight, huh?”

Shadow could barely focus on Sonic’s words, trying so hard to muster up the courage to say what he wanted to say next.

“Hey, Sonic?”

He looked back at Shadow. “Yeah?”

_Deep breath. You’ve got this. Just say it._ “I love you.”

Shadow’s heart beat like a drum in his chest as Sonic’s eyes widened, his lips slightly parting and for a moment Shadow thought he fucked up before a reassuring hand was placed on top of his. Green eyes inches from his own, a smile so soft and full of love Shadow couldn’t believe he got so lucky.

“I love you too, Shadow.” he whispered before pulling his soulmate in for the most wonderful kiss of his life. His hands cupped Sonic’s face as he kissed him softly, wanting to let Sonic know just how much he loved him and cared about him. Sonic’s hands fell on Shadow’s waist, gently pulling him closer. They lay on the grass, holding each other, lost in a simple yet thrilling dance.

When they broke apart all they could do was look at each other, eyes soft and smiles wide. They loved each other, and they couldn’t wait to spend many more days like this.

Together, in love, and in a world full of color.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this whole fic! Comment/Kudos if that's you're thing, I might post more sonic-teens au fics on here if this one gets a lot of positive feedback


End file.
